


The Daughters of Doom

by Animalgirl



Category: Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2020-12-09 04:29:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 27,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20988863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Animalgirl/pseuds/Animalgirl
Summary: June Jessia Doom is the daughter of Doctor Doom, and it’s sure not easy to be her. When she was a baby, she was experimented on by her own mother, resulting in extraordinary powers. By the age of 8, she was thrown out onto the streets with the hope of testing her and her powers, but all June wants to do is find her little sister, Lily, and live away from the oppressed rule of her mother. But when June takes a street job to capture an Avenger for some much-needed money, her life is turned upside down. With major threats to her and her sister coming out of the shadows, June must confront the darkest part of herself to beat them. Will she come on top before she loses her sister and her life?





	1. June

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story on Ao3, so yeah. Give feedback!

Darkness. Utter, complete darkness. I didn’t know where I was, but that didn't particularly bother me. It was more like comforting darkness, like when you close your eyes in a bathtub or some other warm and relaxing place. Until I realized I was floating. There was no ground. I started to panic then. Something this unnatural meant something was wrong. Then, a light showed up. It was blindingly white, but there was a figure there. Dad. He was just standing there, with his metal mask and green cape. The famous doctor doom. But then mom came up behind him, looking as mean as ever. Then my sister Lily was there. I always knew mom didn’t like Lily, but I never knew how much. Until she picked Lily up and stabbed her through the stomach.  
“Nooo!” I screamed. A whimper came from next to me. Breathing hard, I looked around. I was still in the little alleyway garage that I normally lived in. Lily dying had just been a dream. Turning around, I realized I had woken up my 9 dogs. Abby, Kylie, Jack, Bryon, Alex, Mary, Mia, Eve, and Soran. Well, not so much just normal dogs. These amazing pups are more like family. After mom threw me out, this was the first family I was able to find. Nobody else would ever take in a daughter of doctor doom. I just wished Lily could be with me. It had been decided that we were to be thrown out at 8 years old, despite dad’s objections, and Lily was five years younger than me. So she should have been out nearly 2 years ago, but I could never find her. I had begun to think that the police had gotten to her. The police hated my father, it made sense they would take her. Or was it those red skull guys, who also hated my father? It was all so confusing, and it was giving me a headache.  
Laying back down, the furry bodies of my pups comforted me. I usually chose golden retriever forms for them when we slept, but it didn’t feel the same tonight. Finally, unable to sleep, I got up, to whines of concern from Abby, who had been the most invested in taking care of me when I first arrived in the city.  
“It’s okay, Abby.” I soothed. “I’m just going out to get food.”  
Jack then asked in our universal animal language if he could come, to protect me if needed. I shook my head. “I need time alone.” Jack nodded, then laid his head back down.  
After a few minutes of walking, I finally made it to the bustling streets of New York. I walked around the towering buildings and shops, glancing briefly at the Avengers tower on the way. A sense of longing filled me, but I pushed it down immediately. The Avengers would never take me in. End of story.  
With a sigh, I finally made it to Butch’s general store. Butch and I had made a deal. If I didn’t steal from him or any other shop, he would give me and my pack free food. He gave me a glance when I walked in, but that was all. I grabbed some steaks, apples, celery, and a couple of bottles of water. I then went up to the desk to show him the goods and he nodded and bagged them, with the usual note saying good luck in one of the bags. I left and started the trek back home. At one point I swore I saw spiderman flinging his spiderwebs overhead. After another half an hour, I made it home. The pups were still sleeping, so I went to the back to the little refrigerator we had, next to my tech table, and put the stuff in.  
Then I heard a growl, followed by another, and another. Slowly turning around, I saw the source of the growling. A man in the shadows. When he stepped out, I realized he was one of Hydra’s guys. An enemy. I changed the pups to lions, then walked over.  
“What do you want?” I growled.  
“I do not wish to harm you, daughter of doom. I merely wish to strike a deal.”  
“What kind of deal?” I snarled, curiosity piqued. I had done some missions for money for some of the gangs around here, but not much.  
The guy breathed in before speaking. “I know of your… unique abilities. So you may be the only one able to help. I need you to capture an Avenger.”  
I drew back, surprised. “An Avenger?” I clarified. He nodded.  
I whistled a sigh as I thought. “How much?” I asked.  
“$1,500.”  
I thought for a bit, my conscience warring with my needs. That kind of dough could set me with some more tech, or a couch or chair, or a bed, even. Finally, I relented. We needed the money.  
“Which one?” I asked.  
“The Wasp.” he replied. “Do not fail me.”  
He looked at Abby, then left without another word, leaving us in the dark. But I knew what the words and glance meant. Do the job, or he would kill my family. It only took a moment to regain my senses. I went back, closed and locked the garage, then turned back to the pack. “What are we waiting for?” I roared. “We have an Avenger to find!” I then turned into and turned the pack into wolves, and together we ran out into the darkness, howling as we went.


	2. Wasp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wasp, or Janet Van Dyne, gets into a very confusing situation.

I woke up to the dark of night. Unable to sleep, I decided to go out for a small flight to clear my head, so I put on my suit and flew out of Avengers tower in my small size. A quick scan on the ground found nobody there at the moment, except a teenage girl. She looked worn down, with her hair in a ponytail and faded clothes. She looked briefly at the tower, then continued on.   
I wondered what she was thinking of when she looked up. Shrugging, I continued on, the cool wind rushing by my face.   
Picking a small rooftop, I landed on a little metal fence on somebody’s porch. The moon was full tonight, and the stars beside it completed the look. I lay down, looking at the moon and stars, as time passed.   
After a few more minutes of laying this way, however, I heard an eerie howl, which collapsed into another, then another. What must have been ten howls cascaded into the darkness. Confused, I sat up. Wolves in New York? And hunting, too? This wasn’t normal for New York, and anything abnormal in the city was worth checking out.   
I got up from the rail and fluttered to where I had heard the sound. It eventually took me to the back alleyways of the city, where everything was damp, cold, and depressing. Usually, homeless people littered the alleyways, but now everything was silent and clear.  
Seeing a small shop with a woman in it, I took off my suit to reveal a T-shirt and jeans. Walking in, the woman looked up quickly and squeaked. She then ran over to the door and locked it, muttering to herself. Once it was locked, she sighed and turned around.   
“Excuse me ma’am, but I must ask. What are you thinking walking about right now?” “What?” I asked.   
“I mean, nobody goes out when the pack’s on the hunt.”   
“You mean the howl? Is it an actual wolf pack?”   
“Almost worse,” she replied. “Little is known about the New York pack, except that their leader, or alpha, takes jobs from gangs sometimes. She howls to signal the beginning of a hunt. The howl is to ensure that civilians like me and the homeless won’t get hurt. But if you’re the one their hunting… God cannot help you.”   
I shook my head, confused. I was sure the other Avengers had never mentioned a New York pack. But if this group was scaring people this much, it was worth investigation.   
“Do you know where I can find the pack?” I asked the lady. She shivered   
“Find them?” She whispered. I nodded.   
“Well,” she began. “I suppose if you stand out in the open long enough, you’ll run into them sooner or later.”   
Nodding, I unlocked the door and went out. She mouthed good luck before relocking the door. I immediately put on my suit and miniaturized, flipping through the empty and now foggy streets. After a bit more looking, however, I heard another cascade of howls. They sounded much closer now. Then, growls came out of the fog. Finally, I was able to see the pack. And I was shocked to see the pack was an actual pack of wolves. One of them, looking to be bigger and stronger than the rest, noticed me, then broke into a toothy grin.   
“Well, well, well.” I decided as she said. “Look who we have here.” the other wolves just snarled. Only the alpha could talk, apparently. “You know,” The alpha mocked, beginning to circle me, “I thought it would be difficult to find you, considering you’re an Avenger. But here you are.” What had the woman said? If they’re after you, God can not save you. I cringed. “Looks like we’re not staying out late tonight, boys!” The alpha roared and pounced on me. I shrieked, and flew up, narrowly missing the alpha's claws. But what I saw next nearly shocked me out of the sky. The wolves, followed by the alpha, all turned to falcons and swooped up to follow me. Sweating, I flew as fast as I could, zooming past the buildings, trying to get back to the tower. Finally, the big A on the building was in sight. I picked up my speed and was almost in the range...until one of the Falcons caught me in its talons.   
I screamed and struggled, but it was no use. The bird's grip was tight. It and the rest of the flock started to fly me back to the city. But I did have my communicator on me. I called into the Avengers, whispering so the birds wouldn’t hear me.  
“Hello?” I whispered.   
“Janet? My god, where have you been? I’ve been worried sick!” Hank replied on the other line, way too loudly. One of the birds noticed me and swooped over.   
“Hank, I’ve been captured by the New York pack. They take jobs and hunt people for them. I’m going to try to find…”But I couldn’t say anything more, because a bird came and snapped my communicator. Looking for other ways to escape, I immediately knew I couldn’t transform back to human size at this size, I’d kill myself with the fall. So I had to wait.   
The birds continued to fly over the city, until they suddenly swooped downward, making me yelp in surprise. Upon landing, the bird holding me turned into a human and threw me into a small lantern-like cage, designed for me. I couldn’t change back. There was another sound as the rest were changed. I expected more humans, but only dogs remained.  
Two German shepherds, one husky, three pit-bulls, one golden retriever, and two more Doberman pinschers. This explained why only the alpha could talk. The human one, probably the alpha, came up to me, and I recognized her from when she had been looking up at the tower. Up close, she looked even more run-down than before.   
“Why are you doing this?” I asked, and she flinched as if I’d slapped her.   
“You wouldn’t understand.” she snarled.   
“Why not?”I retorted. I could sense fear here, and I had to do something about it. One of the German Shepherds barked something, and the girl sighed.   
“I don’t know when he’s coming. Better catch some sleep in the meantime.”   
While I wondered who “he” was, the girl did something with her hands and soon all of the dogs turned into golden retrievers. The dogs all lay down, snuggling together. The girl snuggled up between them, to form a huge fluffy bed. I almost squealed at the adorableness. Then slumped, realizing this was all the teenage girl had. Nine dogs, a small garage-like alcove, and the clothes on her back. I felt bad for her, and now realized why she fought so fiercely. She had to.   
I sighed, then started to work looking at the snapped communicator. There was no way it could be fixed, not without Tony’s help. And the container was top-notch. I wondered where she had gotten it. Then I saw a table near the back of the place, covered in mechanical parts and contraptions that looked majorly high tech for a 14, maybe a 15-year-old girl. After exactly one second I realized she had made this trap I was in. Impressive.   
Suddenly, a rustle came up behind me. I swung around, to see a man shrouded in darkness. As he walked out, I recognized him as a Hydra stooge. One of the dogs noticed him too and barked. Less than three seconds later, all of the dogs were on their feet and ready, and after a flick of the girl's hand, all the dogs were lions. I wondered if the trick was really done with her hands or if it was just for show. The girl walked up to me and picked my cage up.   
“I’m sorry.” she mouthed.  
I nodded back, and she took me over to the guy, with her other hand outstretched. The guy put a sack in her hand, and she checked it. Satisfied but sad, she handed me over to the man. But as soon as he had me, he raised an unforeseen gun and shot one of the lions. The lion yelped, and the girl screamed, running back to it.   
“To ensure you won’t follow.” The man murmured, then went back into the alleyways. I could hear the cries and yells from behind me, and I could feel my heart clench. The man, upon reaching the road, put me in his truck next to him in the passenger’s seat and buckled me in. “I’m sure you are asking yourself who that monstrosity was.” He began. I clenched my teeth against a reply.   
“That monster that you just had the pleasure of meeting was June Jessia Doom, daughter of Doctor Doom. She was kicked out of her home when she was 8 years old. But, before then, she was experimented on by her mother, to turn into a shapeshifting, power holding freak. She also has a younger sister who was kicked out nearly two years ago, but nobody knows where she is.” “Why the interest?” I snarled. The man looked at me.   
“It is my life’s work to know any possible enemy.” He suddenly gunned the engine and sped off down the street.   
“What?”I asked at the sudden speed.   
“Even if she is a monster, June will be tenfold in her revenge. I was foolish to try and kill her family.” Then, a howl came from behind us, and the man swore under his breath. I myself was getting goosebumps. Then a roar came from just outside the car. They were here. There was a thump on the roof, and the man yelled, sweating. Then, the car’s roof was ripped off, to reveal a wolf-like human, murder in its eyes.  
June.  
She tipped her head back and howled, a sound that ripped through my bones. What happened next was stained in my mind forever. June leaped in, destroyed the engine with a knife, then jumped on the guy, who screamed. That scream was his last. June ripped his throat out and threw him out the top of the car. Then, she grabbed my small cage and jumped.   
The car continued in front of us, eventually hitting a building and exploding in a huge fireball. I just sat in my tiny cell, shellshocked.   
June turned back to her usual self and turned the dogs back too. She set me down and got to work on something.   
“What are you doing?” I asked.   
“I’m disarming your cage. If opened incorrectly, you would be shocked.”  
I hadn’t even realized that there would be a safeguard. How many things could this girl do?   
However, I saw a shadow behind her and started to say something, until I heard a hum and zap, and June was on the ground, twitching. The dogs immediately jumped up and snarled at the man while surrounding and protecting June. The man who had shocked her was in a police uniform. The officer retaliated by aiming a gun at them, while a whole two squads backed him up.   
I suddenly felt a tip in my cage and felt myself being lifted up by the husky, who was starting to back up, slowly and carefully. Carrying me further and further away from the police. But there was somebody behind the police. Or, somebodies.   
The Avengers!   
“Hey, guys! Over here!” I yelled, drawing everybody's attention to me.  
“Janet!” Hank yelled.   
“Let the hero go, mutt.” the officer snarled.   
The husky holding me growled but put me down, and June got up, a look of loathing on her face. Then, a miniaturized Hank was in front of my tiny cell.   
“How do we get you out?” he asked.   
“I don’t know,” I replied. “June said there was a failsafe that shocks me if the cell is opened incorrectly. Safe to say she’s the only one who can do it until we get back to the lab.”  
Hank frowned but nodded. He then grabbed my cage and brought me back to the rest of the Avengers. Meanwhile, The police were saying something to June.   
“Step down, monster. Or do we have to take you by force?” June’s scowl deepened, but she waved the dogs back. The officer sighed.   
“Your sister was much easier to take,” he muttered.   
June’s eyes grew wide in shock, and I gasped. The Hydra agent had said that her little sister was missing. The police had her?   
“You what?” June snarled.   
“Oh, that’s right, you didn’t know.”The officer mocked. “It only took 1 shock to take her in.” Then his smile faded. “Kill them.” he snarled.   
Gunshots filled the air and hit all of the eight dogs, killing them. June cried out and ran to them, but by the time she had, they were dead. I very suddenly feared for the man’s life. The Hydra agent had said June’s revenge was tenfold. Her pupils constricted to crazed slits, and she turned back to that wolf-like thing. She jumped on the officer and began to tear him apart, then set on the other officers, who were screaming and shoving to get out of the way. Then one officer, a strong young one, shot 5 tranq darts, which buried themselves in June’s fur. She howled a long, sad sound, before dropping to the ground, asleep. I gasped, somewhat surprised that this force could be toppled. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t bring myself to. Steve, though, said it for me.   
“Be careful with her. She’s just a girl after all.”   
“This thing can’t even be called as such.” A new main officer spat. “She is a daughter of doom, a monster, a freak, and that is all she’ll ever be.”


	3. 3 hours later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some backstory here, as well as relationships being gained.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw, I have most of this written already, so unless I say different, It won't be very long until I upload again

The hours since June’s capture passed in a blur. Half of the time was used by Tony to get me out of the cage. He kept muttering the whole while about how smart she was to have done this. After I was released, I immediately flew back to the little garage where June had once lived, partly to take the parts on the table back for Tony to look at, and partly because a part of me had to go back.   
Upon arriving, I saw the garage was locked, so I blasted it open. I hoped she wouldn’t mind, as she wasn’t going to use it anytime soon. As I walked in, I heard a whimper in the corner. There was the golden retriever that had been shot, looking as healthy as ever, with a bandage on its fur. I smiled, glad that not all of the dogs had been killed. I turned back to regular size and scratched the dog's head.   
“I’m sorry,” I said.   
The dog merely barked in reply.   
But something above the pup caught my eye. A list of names, next to dog types. Scaling down the list, I found: Golden retriever-Abby.   
“Abby, huh?” I said to the dog, who wagged her tail. “You want to come and help me save her?”   
The dog barked happily.   
It was so different from when she had been hunting me, coming in for the kill. I rubbed her head again then made my way to the table with parts on it. None of it made any sense to me, but there was a box next to the table, so I just dumped all of the stuff into that to take back with me. Next to it was a mini-fridge. Upon opening it up there was a recently bought stash. Some steaks, apples, celery, and a couple of bottles of water. I took the food too, throwing one of the steaks to Abby, who scarfed it up. And that was it. There was nothing else here. So I picked up the box and started the trek back to the tower, now with Abby in tow. I wondered if she knew I would help, or was just trusting me blindly.   
By the time we made it to the tower, Abby was limping and breathing hard, so as soon as we got inside I let her collapse in the lab, where I put the box of stuff on a lab table and then the food in the kitchen below. I then went back up to wait for Tony.   
When he came in, he immediately noticed Abby and leaped back.   
“Why did you bring that in?” he yelled. I scoffed.   
“This is Abby,” I explained. “And for your information, June’s dogs were nothing but sweet to me. This one is the last one alive and I hope to keep it that way.” Tony walked over to the box, still wary of Abby, probably thinking I got brainwashed. But when he looked into the box, he whistled.   
“Even if I question her morals, there is no doubt she is a genius with tech. I would like to meet her. With a monster proof wall.”   
“She is not a monster,” Steve said, suddenly appearing at the door.   
“Oh yeah? Then how do you explain what we saw today?” Tony replied, still hunkered over the box.   
“We saw today a girl with powers from a difficult life. We learned that she is good with mechanics and that she is a great fighter, probably learned from years on the street.``he looked at me. “Anything to add, Janet?” I nodded.   
“She regarded her now dead dogs as family, including Abby. She loved them to the ends of the earth, and she only took the job of taking me because red skulls guy would have killed her dogs. When she completed the task she even mouthed that she was sorry. Then, after the Hydra guy shot Abby anyway, she and the rest of the dogs went after and killed him. She was then working on getting me out when you showed up.” Steve nodded.   
“You see?” he said. “She is just as human as you and me.”   
“But…” I started.   
“There’s always a but,” Tony muttered.   
“I just thought you should know. The agent also said she was Doctor Doom's daughter, and that she has a missing sister, who’s really been with the police this whole time.” Steve’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.   
“Why wouldn’t the police tell her that?” Tony asked, finally interested. I shrugged. Steve frowned, then walked right out of the room.   
“Steve?” I asked.   
“You should go after him. He might do something stupid.” Tony drawled, resuming to look through the box. I ran out the door, and looked around, eventually finding him in the communications room.   
“You're crazy,” I said. “You want to call him?” Steve nodded.   
“If he’s her father, he might be able to tell us more about her so we can rescue her.”   
“Rescue her?” I said in disbelief. I then felt a bump on my leg, to find Abby there, with a pleading look on her face. But there was something on her neck. I leaned down, to see a collar of sorts there. It had a note on it. The note said.   
“Found it in the box, probs wasn’t able to be used. Try it out and see. Looks safe.” I looked back at Abby. Supposed to be safe? Well, if June had made it, might as well trust it. I saw a handy-dandy power button on it and turned the device on. There was a bit of whirring until a voice came out of the collar.   
“buzz..buzz...subject: Abby...syncing.” and it went silent. Then another voice came out of it.   
“Hello? Is this working?”   
“Who are you?” I asked.   
“It’s me, Abby!”The dog wearing it cocked its head, and I drew back. This thing allowed Abby to speak?!   
“Well, I’ll be.” Steve murmured.   
“You have no idea how hard it’s been to try and communicate. Well, are you going to call Doom?”   
“It’s a good idea?” I asked.   
“Doom loves both of his daughters, it’s her mom that hates her. He’ll be happy to help if her mom’s not in the room.” I stared at her a bit. Doctor Doom, a good father-figure. Somehow, the mental idea of that didn’t work. But Steve was already at the controls. The large meeting screen fizzed, then connected. The next thing I knew, Doctor Doom himself was staring me in the face.   
“What do you want?”Doom growled.   
“Hello, sir.” Abby started.   
“I was a part of the New York pack with June, but she was taken by the police, and the Avengers want to help, but they need to know more about June. Can you help?” Doom stared at the pup, dumbstruck. Then went silent.   
“Why would you want to help June and not the police?”He asked suspiciously.   
“Because of their treatment of her,” Steve replied. “We saw what happened when she was taken away, and the police were awful to her. And they also have her sister. We immediately knew the right side.” Doom nodded.   
“Fine,” he grunted. “When June was born, I had a natural father's instinct to protect her, but her mother took her away before that happened. I never saw her for a whole year after. When she did come back, she looked mostly the same, except that when her eyes constricted, they turned to slits instead of smaller circles, but I knew something more was different. June’s mother explained it all to me. She now had the power to unzip her DNA and change it to any animal she liked, as well as one extra power. I only had to wonder a little while to know what it was, when she crawled by the computer and touched it. She disappeared and came back to a lamp in the ceiling. After a shorts moment of stress trying to catch her, I discerned that she had the extra power of electricity, and the ability to move through electronics. So later in life, I taught her mechanics and how to build incredibly difficult tech that rivaled Tony Starks. But her last two powers only came out when Lily was born.” Doom took a deep breath.   
“Lily was taken away like June had been, and returned a year later. Except she had powers of fire, not electricity, along with the shapeshifting power. I still taught her mechanics, but not as much. Their mother left after that, saying she would come back when June was 8. In the three years between then, I learned that their mother didn’t just create them, but also created another version of them that came out when they were angry.”   
“Do these things happen to look like werewolves and have only a thirst for violence?” I asked.   
“You’ve met her then,” Doom said. “Since they weren’t completely the girls, we called them the others. Their mother knew of this and left a machine, that would bring out the others indefinitely unless they were put back into the machine or they fought the other away. We only tried this on June when she was nearly 8. The events were catastrophic. She did manage to beat her other, called Zira, back, but there was so much damage around the castle from it. Their others only desire pain and destruction.”   
“What about Lily’s other?” I asked.   
“That one calls herself Morgana.”   
“And you mentioned the last power?” I asked.   
“That one can only be done with both girls present. But I’m going to give them the chance to show you that one.” Doom said, then turned off his computer, which made our computer turn to black. Silence.   
“Well,” Steve said. “Let’s get ready.”


	4. June

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Character Development... I suck at summaries.

I woke up to a pounding headache, a muddled mind, and the slick feeling of glass on my palm. Upon opening my eyes, I realized I was in a circular glass prison, and at first, I was confused. Then the memories flooded in, from capturing that Avenger to the pups dying and Zira taking control and the feeling of induced sleep from the darts. And Lily was captured by the police. Which meant I needed to get out of here and save her.   
Which didn’t look too hard at the moment.  
Easily, I turned into a dinosaur with those hard heads and smashed at the glass. But when I looked up, there was only a crack. And right in front of me, the glass reassembled itself as if nothing had happened.   
Confused, I ran at the glass again, This time making a bigger crack, but it sealed itself again. I turned human again and felt the glass for an electrical current. None. getting an Idea, I started to grow to a T-rex size, but as I was growing, the glass bafflingly held me back, making my squished, and have to turn back to a human.   
Sighing, I scrunched up into a tight ball, trying to hold back the warm tears threatening to come out. This was probably the closest I have ever been to Lily in years, and I was stuck. But dad wouldn’t have sat here blubbering. He would have sucked it up, and kept going.   
So I wiped away the tears and looked at the machine holding up the glass ball. Dad had taught me mechanics, after all. Upon a quick inspection, I knew I needed a sort of a keycard to open this up, as well as an outside ally, which was unlikely to happen. But I needed to try. The next person who came in here would be my target. But that plan was scrapped when I saw who it was that came in.   
The infamous Captain America.   
Who had stood by when I had been taken in. I wrinkled my nose in disgust, cursing myself forever entertaining the idea that the Avengers were any different than everybody else. He frowned at me pityingly. I scowled harder. I didn’t want this guy thinking I was weak. He walked up to the glass with slow, careful steps. Did he think I was an animal that might attack him at the slightest movement? I scoffed and turned away. The Captain didn’t try to stop me.   
“We talked to your father,” he said. I flinched. Thinking of him or Lily right now would be tough.   
“We know how you’ve suffered.” he continued.   
“Do you care?” I snarled.   
“If I didn’t, why would I be here?” I wondered where all of the guards were. Captain America was now two inches from the glass.   
“What do you need to get out?”He breathed. I paused. Was he helping me? And he must have talked to dad, or he wouldn’t know about my mechanic skills.   
“I need an inside guy and a key card. They made this well. Can’t get out by myself.” Cap nodded and left.   
The next day came and went, with nobody coming in, with nobody with me but my thoughts. The day after, a younger officer came in. He looked extremely nervous, and I had to suppress my urge to mess with him and turn into something scary-looking, like a bear or something. I fought the urge with a smile. But something in his arms caught my eyes. Food. My stomach growled. I hadn’t had food in at least 3 days. He must have noticed my hungry look, and his face paled a bit. His shaking hand pulled out a keycard, and I swear my eyes must have Constricted to slits, my hunger for that card was so big. The officer didn’t take his eyes off me until he was putting the actual keycard in.   
He pressed a few buttons, and a slit appeared in the glass, just big enough for the food tray to fit. I didn’t try to make my eyes go back to normal. He was afraid of me anyway. I almost was able to tear at the food, but I paused, Looking at the boy. He was near shaking and was totally pale.   
I softened, and my eyes went back to normal. The kid relaxed slightly, so I went further, turning into a small puppy. The kid smirked a little and came over to the glass. The slit was still there, and I put a paw through the space. The officer put a finger in to match my paw, and we touched. The effect was immediate. The boy smiled from ear to ear. Then frowned.   
“I'm sorry.”He Murmured. “But I have to go.”   
I nodded, and we both withdrew our hands. He withdrew his keycard, and the glass solidified. The officer sighed, then left, leaving me to feel a strange sense of accomplishment.


	5. Cap,then June

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally some action! And Zira's coming out.

A Keycard and an outside man. Two of the hardest things to find. I sighed, scratching my head. Officially, I wasn't supposed to be here at the prison at all. In the best scenario, I could get out of here alone without anybody noticing. Suddenly, a voice came up behind me.   
“Excuse me, Captain America?”  
I swung around, to see a younger officer, with a noticeably high up keycard.   
“Yes?” I asked.   
“I, um, saw you talking to the new prisoner today. What do you think of her?” he asked.   
I immediately knew he was testing me, but which side was he on? I looked long and hard and the young man, then decided he was safe.   
“If you really want my opinion,” I started, “I believe she shouldn’t be in there. She and her sister should be able to live wherever no matter who their father is.”   
The officer slumped in what looked like relief, and said,   
“I just went to see her… to give her some food. I was so afraid, and when she saw me she looked like a starving beast. Her eyes had even constricted to slits if you can imagine that. When I opened a slit in the glass with my keycard, I handed in the food with one hand and touched my gun on my belt with the other. I put in the food and jumped away. But then she looked at me and softened. She turned into this little puppy and put her paw in the slit. I might have withdrawn my keycard and cut off her hand, but I couldn’t. I went over and touched her paw instead. I knew then that she wasn’t a bad person. So, will you help me to help her?”   
I paused. Surely it wouldn’t be this easy. I searched the eyes of this boy, looking for any source of lying in him. I found an only sheer concern. June had done this rather well. Finally relenting, I said,   
“First things first, we need to find June’s younger sister.”   
“You mean Lily?” he asked. “I know where she is.” I paused. This was too good to be true. “Then here’s the plan,” I whispered. “I’ll meet you at June's watching room tomorrow  
night, hopefully with the rest of the Avengers in the air outside. We’ll release June then you can lead her to Lily, then we can all get out of here. I’ll cover you while we run.”   
The kid nodded and continued on his way as if nothing had happened. I nodded to myself and headed back to the tower. Janet was waiting eagerly at the front door.   
“So?” she prodded. “What’s gonna happen?”   
“Yeah. What’s happening?” Abby asked, wagging her tail at Janet’s feet. They looked like two preschoolers about to get a present.   
“I’ll explain it to everyone in the meeting room,” I said. They both ran inside as if they were on fire. I had to admire their enthusiasm. I eventually followed them inside to the meeting room, where everybody was already gathered, probably thanks to Janet and Abby. They did not look happy. Clint spoke first.   
“What the hell are you thinking, cap?!” he snarled.   
“That girl is bad news,” Tony added. “You saw her. Everyone did. She’s unstable. Better to leave her where she is.” I sighed.   
“But what if it were you who was there?” Bruce interrupted. “I know what it feels to be used for something I didn’t ask for. It’s terrible. I was lucky to get out of that situation alive, and I haven’t regretted it since. I may be unstable, but that doesn’t mean I can’t live. June should have the same chance.” I room was silent, stunned by Bruce’s speech. Both Tony and Clint looked pretty embarrassed. I myself was shocked.   
“Alright then.” Janet interrupted. “What’s the plan?”

(June POV)

Sleeping in this godforsaken thing was like someone was bending you straight in half. No matter how I laid down, I couldn’t sleep. It was now the night after the boy had come in with food, and my stomach was beginning to cramp from hunger again. Even on the streets, it hadn’t been this bad.   
I rolled over a few more times before giving up. I sat up and stretched a bit, and opened my eyes to see the boy in front of the bubble. I yelped and launched back in surprise, but calmed down in a few seconds. He cringed, then leaned forward and whispered,   
“Sorry. I’m, um, gonna let you out. I’ll lead you to Lily, and out. The Avengers are helping.” I paused. Surely I hadn’t heard right. But the kid wasn’t waiting for anything, and he immediately put his keycard in and opened a slot in the glass big enough for me to fit through. I stared at the hole to freedom. I never really believed I’d see it. I carefully slit out of the glass, then launched away in case the boy changed his mind. But he didn’t move. He seemed nervous, but nothing more. I carefully stretched my arms and legs, then walked closer to him, eventually coming up to a foot from his face. He didn’t even flinch.   
“Where is she?” I rasped. He did flinch then. Then gave me his keycard.   
“Northwest quarter,” he said. “Cell number 355.” I nodded, then ran for the door. It burst open, and using a map, turned left and turned into a lion, running off through hallway after hallway.   
Eventually, I saw cell 312 on the left, then 313,314, and so on, I urged my animal muscles to go faster, until I made it to 355. I stopped and turned back, but I couldn’t bring myself to open the door. After 5 years, I had never thought of what I would do when I actually saw her. I swallowed hard, then reached forward with the keycard. I put it into the door slot, and the light beeped green.   
The door slid open.   
And there she was.   
In a cell similar to mine, except with coolers around it, to contradict her fiery power. She was shivering, but other than that seemed no worse for wear. She didn’t even look up when I came in until I was two feet away. She looked like she couldn’t believe her eyes. “June?” she whispered. “It’s me,” I nodded. She smiled, and a tear rolled down her face. I slid in the keycard and was faced with a complicated mess of code. The code scrolled, then blanked out to a few buttons, with pictures on them. The pictures showed little slits to the whole glass ball opening. I chose the button with the semi-circle. The glass shuddered, then opened halfway. Lily slid out slowly, then launched away as I had. Then she ran to me, enveloping my middle in a tight squeeze. She was sobbing, not really believing it was me. Tears streaming down my own face, I bent down and returned her hug. We stayed like this for what seemed like forever, until I saw a guard run into the room out of the corner of my eyes.   
“Hey!” he yelled.  
I snarled, let go of Lily, and ran at him. He fumbled for his stun gun, but I got to him first. I turned to a rhino, then slammed him against the wall. The man screamed, but could not move. Lily came up to my side.   
“Leave him be, June. He’s not our enemy. Just following orders.”   
I let out a last snarl, then a sigh, and turned to a lion.   
“Come on,” I growled to her. She turned to a lion herself, but she turned to be a cub, young as she was. My animal forms still had room to grow too. So I picked her up carefully with my front teeth and sprinted off the way I came, vaguely remembering an exit semi-close to my cell.   
Every time I smelled a guard in the hallways, I ran a different way. No need to attract unnecessary attention. Finally, I passed my own cell, number 212. I ran on a bit more, then turned left. The doors were right there. On a burst of adrenaline, I sprinted towards the door and skidded to a halt. The door required a key card. I virtually slammed mine in, and when the door opened, I whisked through. I smiled at the open door behind me until Lily screamed. I moved my gaze back, to see about 10 guards in front of me, maybe 10 feet away.   
I jerked and was barely able to change direction, running back to the walls of the prison. Jumping on some crates, I made it to the roof, narrowly missing bullets.   
“Where are the Avengers?” I wondered desperately.   
And as if on cue, a helicopter rose on the other side of the roof. I sped up, changing my course to be able to jump onto an air duct. I leaped, landing on the cold metal of the duct, then took a deep breath, and jumped. I saw Captain America’s hand reaching for me, but only my front paws made it to the helicopter. I let Lily out of my mouth, and she turned back and reached out her hand. I prepared to change back, but then I heard another gunshot and my arm burst with pain. I roared and let go of the copter. More than one hand grabbed at me, but none succeeded.   
I fell until the grass of the courtyard hit my back. I gasped as the air was taken from my lungs. I worked on taking in breaths while I rolled over and stood up, as I had no time for vulnerability. My arm was screaming, but I didn’t care. I just wouldn’t use it much.   
Gaining my breath back, I looked around. Guards had fully surrounded me, even the little one who had let me out. He was looking terrified, but not at me. Then a guard came out of the circle, and I realized it was not just any guard. It was the same police officer that had taken me away, had insulted my humanity. I snarled at him to keep back, and he thankfully stopped. And spoke.   
“You know, when I heard from the prison that you were trying to escape, I have to admit I was more excited than you think. I’ve hated Doctor Doom since the beginning of time when he attacked the city and destroyed my home. Making him come here for you was my first plan, but your escape attempt gave me a different idea. If I killed his daughters, then he would come to me, and finally pay for his crimes.”   
By this point, I was seething. I felt Zira twitching inside, and it was all I could do to suppress her. And my arm was killing me. But this guy knew I was weak. He was using this chance to kill me.   
“And also,” he continued. “After I’m done with you, I’ll throw your sister to the furnace in the prison kitchen.”   
That was it. I couldn’t take any more. Zira cackled inside me, and I was shoved aside. My form reverted to Zira’s and launched forward at the officer. She snapped his neck, then turned on the rest. Gunshots filled the air but Zira was able to dodge all of them. She killed guard after guard and finally made it to the guy that had freed me. His eyes were wide, and my conscience pulled at my body, Jerking Zira back.   
“Not that one.” I thought. Zira snarled but did leave him alone. She owed him for letting her out too. Another gunshot went off that Zira couldn’t dodge, and it slammed into our injured arm. Zira howled, then ran at and killed the guard. Every other guard was dead. Zira snarled, then set her sights on the helicopter. Even shoved aside, I could see the uncertainty on their faces. Zira leaped onto the roof, then jumped to the copter. She landed on her feet and snarled at the pain in our arm. Even Lily looked scared. So I wrestled for control, and Zira relented, reluctantly, of course. My limbs became my own, and I collapsed to the ground. Lily came up to me.   
“Zira?” she murmured.   
“Gone.” I breathed.   
She stood up and said something to the rest. Then the helicopter started to fly away. My arm was still screaming, and bleeding for good measure. Lily yelled for some bandages and tweezers. She then pulled out the two bullets. I clenched my teeth and screamed in my mouth, but I did not move. When she was done, she wrapped my arm with the bandage and used the rest to make a sling. Then she helped me up into a seat.   
The wasp came up to me, slowly and carefully, then asked, “Do your eyes really constrict to slits?” I smiled a bit, then constricted my eyes to show my slits. She stared at them, purely curious. I was glad of it. I was usually so careful to hide them, knowing people would scream and yell. It was refreshing to not have to anymore. Wasp then introduced herself formally as Janet van Dyne. I nodded my comprehension. She then thankfully walked away. Lily sighed, then asked.   
“Can we sleep on the floor?”I nodded, then slid out of my chair and to the ground. Captain America briefly looked over to see if I was okay, but he turned back. Lily curled into my arm and fell asleep. I was about to follow suit before I saw Abby in the corner.   
“Abby?” I whispered. Her head lifted, and she spoke.   
“Yes?” she asked. I sighed in relief, both that she was alive, and that my collar worked.  
“Come on over. Lily’s cool.” I smiled. Abby wagged her tail, then walked over, snuggling up to support my slung arm. I had everything I wanted, so I fell asleep to the rhythmic beating of Lily’s and Abby’s hearts.


	6. Wasp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wasp and the rest of the team learn more about June and Lily. Cuteness all around, and the thrill of a huge power.

I almost swooned at the cuddle party of Lily, June, and Abby. They looked exhausted but calm. I’d say they deserved it, after everything they’ve been through.   
“This course’ll put us at the tower around sunrise,” Clint grunted. He had never been happy with this plan. No matter what, he hadn’t trusted June. I could never figure out why. So I went over to him.   
“What’s your deal, Clint?” I prodded. Clint only grunted in reply.   
“Come on, Clint.” I persisted. He shook his head.   
“Not now!” He snarled.   
Getting the picture, I went back to the main area of the copter. The three were still sleeping. I went over to Steve.   
“Do you know why clint hates June so much?” I asked. He shook his head.   
“Maybe we can ask June when we get back,” he suggested. I nodded.   
The night gave way to dawn as we came up to and landed on the landing pad of Avengers tower. As we landed, I lightly shook June awake. Her eyes flew open as she lashed out, prepared to fight if needed. When she saw it was me, she slowly relaxed, then woke up Lily and Abby once I revealed we arrived. The three of them yawned, then stood up.   
We walked out of the helicopter, Clint keeping his distance. I showed Lily and June their rooms that JARVIS prepared for them, then led them to the kitchen where breakfast was now being served. Abby just trotted behind. I believe the girls just about exploded looking at breakfast, with its biscuits and gravy, pancakes, eggs and bacon, sausages, and finally a pitcher of orange juice. I could almost hear their stomachs growl, and both their eyes constricted to slits. Beside me, Clint cringed. I sent a glare his way, then grabbed a plate to inadvertently invite the sisters to eat.   
They walked over with extreme carefulness, filled up their plates, then asked if they could eat in their rooms. Tony nodded and they left, not too fast, not too slow. Everything was planned in our presence. Once they were gone, I rounded on Clint. “Alright,” I started. “Time for the truth.” Clint looked around at the others, but there was no way he’d get out of this one. He sighed.   
“You all know how my parents died in a car crash.” he began. “Well, there’s a bit more to the story. That night was not just a regular car crash.” he paused, sucking in a breath.   
“We were driving through the woods near my home, my parents in the front and me and my brother in the back. It was all quiet until I heard a sound. It was a howl, but unlike anything, I’d ever heard. And I’d heard other wolves before. This one set off a chill in my bones, one that made my senses heighten and my adrenaline rush. My parents murmured a bit about it, but that was all. But something huge and fast suddenly jumped in front of the car, making my parents swerve off the road, crashing the car and killing them instantly. By the time my brother and I got out, the big thing had started a fight. But the thing it was fighting… was doctor doom himself. And the thing that was fighting him…was a monstrous wolf-like thing, with a deranged look in its eye. It looked to be fighting for its life until it saw me. It fought off Doom, then walked to me, a toothy grin on its face. Doom barely got it off and away from me before it ripped my throat out. My brother and I ran all the way to town then, screaming for the police. By the time we could get back, there were only my parents left. Doom and the beast were gone. The police didn’t believe our stories, so we kept them secret. But when I saw June turn, I recognized her. She was the one who had killed my parents, how would you have reacted?!” I could only gape at him.   
“That wasn’t her.” Steve countered. “When June was nearly 8, an experiment was run. It brought out Zira indefinitely unless she was turned back again or she wrestled for control. Doom said the damage was catastrophic. I never knew to what extent.” Something seemed to soften in Clint's mind.   
“So it wasn’t her?” he clarified, and Steve nodded. Clint nodded back, then sighed.   
“I’ll try to be nicer, then.”   
I smiled, then remembered one of the last things Doom had said. A special power that only the two of them could activate.   
“We should find out what that is.” I ended, explaining my thoughts. The group nodded, and we all made our way to their rooms, which were across the hall from one another. We found the three in June’s room. They were all sitting on the bed, telling their stories to Lily, who was looking awed. When I peeked in, June stopped abruptly and looked at me.   
“What?” she asked, a bit annoyed by the interruption.   
“Well, your dad told us about a special power which is only activated with both of you together. We were wondering if you could show us.” Lily slid into a toothy grin and glanced at June, who looked skeptical.   
“Come on, June.” Lily pleaded. “We haven't done it in 5 years!” June sighed, then smiled.   
“Come on Lily, Abby.” she motioned. Then she turned to me.   
“Is there a gym here, somewhere big?” I nodded.   
“I’ll show you.” I motioned. The three followed, flanked by the rest of the Avengers. We reached the biggest gym we had, and Lily took it in and nodded.   
“This will do,” she murmured. She asked us to step back, then she and Lily went to the center of the gym.   
“Just you wait,” Abby smiled. “I’ve heard it’s amazing.” In the middle of the gym, June and Lily nodded in agreement to something, and before I knew it, June was off. She ran to the wall then jumped, using her foot to propel off of the wall and swing in the rafters, leaping from bit to bit with one hand. When she was above Lily, she fell face first and stretched out her hand. Lily did the same, and when their hands connected, a power ball appeared, and all of the heat was sucked out of the room. Then the power went out. When the noise finally stopped, The heat of the tower returned in a rush and the power came back on.   
But June and Lily were not there anymore.   
What stood there now was a huge emerald-green dragon with two heads, one slightly larger than the other. We all stood and stared, while the dragon roared, one breathing fire and the other lightning. A cast was on one of their arms. 

The room seemed to whirl, and I had to fight to stand up straight. Then there was a great flash of light, and June and Lily were back. They walked over to wait for a reaction, great smiles on their faces.   
“What...the heck ...was that?” Clint whispered. Lily stifled a laugh.   
“How is that even possible?”Hank wheezed. Now it was June’s turn to chuckle. Tony frowned, then asked,   
“Jarvis, did you get all of that?”   
“I did, sir,” Jarvis replied.   
“Then I’m going to the lab.” Tony decided. “You can come too, to get your arm fixed up.”  
The rest of the Avengers followed, with June and Lily grinning in their wake. The sisters eventually caught up, to find Tony fiddling with his instruments to dissect the dragon form. I was still too shocked to react well. So I just went to the side, contemplating what I’d just seen. Others like Red skull and AIM would kill for things like this. Which is probably why their identities had remained shrouded in darkness until now.   
Tony remained in the lab for the rest of the day until he had figured out how the sisters had achieved this epic feat of biology, fixing June’s arm in the process. The rest of us trained against the sisters, who had to learn to work as a team again. It was pretty safe to say that even after a five-year separation, they pounded us into the floor, laughing as they did so. From this, it chilled me to the bone to think of how good Zira and Morganna were.   
After 7 long hours of training, we all walked out of the gym sweating and wincing. Clint went off to take a shower, but as soon as he left into his room, June got a goofy grin on her face, and Lily copied it and nodded. June then leaped for an outlet on the wall and disappeared. Lily turned to us.   
“Wait for it,” she smiled. Then a shrieking scream came from Clint’s room, and Lily fell to the floor and howled with laughter. June appeared again, laughing, and grabbed Lily and ran, just as a sopping wet clint in wet clothes stormed out of his room, snarling. He immediately ran his way to Tony’s lab. We could hear their argument from here. June and Lily came back, sniggering. While Clint and Tony continued to argue, Lily explained what had happened.   
Apparently, June had gone into the wiring of the tower and had tweaked Clint’s shower to give him freezing water followed by burning water, and back and forth and so on. Thinking of Clint wondering what the hell was going on, I cracked a smile, and a snigger escaped from my own lips. The others copied me, shaking with laughter while Tony and Clint continued their shouting match.   
Soon, clint stormed out of the labs, and we stilled our smiles. He slammed the door to his room behind him as he went to get dried off and into new and dry clothes.   
We then all gathered in the kitchen where dinner was served by J.A.R.V.I.S. There was chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, bread, and pasta. The sisters were practically shining at all of the food.   
Surprisingly, they ate very clean and polite, despite being away from a table for up to 5 years. Not surprisingly, they ate a ton of food and excused themselves at the first opportunity to go to bed and sleep. We didn’t blame them, after all, they’d been through a lot. As soon as they left, I turned back to a now silent table. They were obviously all contemplating what they had seen today.   
“Well…” Steve began, “I can conclude that they’re just kids in mature life.” Everybody else nodded their agreement, except for Clint and Tony, who looked confused. Once we explained what June had done, Tony glared at Clint, who looked a bit sheepish now.   
“I think we can trust them,” Steve followed up. Nobody at the table disagreed. We then got up and went to our respective rooms, ready for bed. I checked on Juna and Lily quickly, to see them and Abby piled up on June’s bed, sleeping. Smiling, I went to my own room. Snuggling into the soft covers, the exhaustion of the day took over and blackness fell over my consciousness.


	7. Lily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally the start of a huge problem. Clint sees the wrath of the "others" again.

The second we reached our rooms, I asked June if I could sleep with her, to which she agreed. Pj’s were left out for us from that A.I, J.A.R.V.A.S. We changed quickly, with Abby dutifully looking away. Once we were dressed and brushed our teeth in the attached bathroom (we never quite forgot the habit) the three of us curled up under the covers, as close to each other as possible.   
I had a fitful sleep, full of police badges and guns and the roar of Zira herself. I woke up with a scream, the covers a mess beside me. June and Abby were still sleeping. I shoved June awake to a grunt. She yawned, then looked at me with a slightly annoyed face. Upon seeing my fear, she softened and turned to a big, overly fluffy wolf, and put her arm around me, bringing me into her grip of soft and fluffy fur, like we used to do when we were much smaller when I was afraid of storms. My current fears ceased, and I fell back into an empty sleep.   
Until I woke up to find a nightmare in life. It started with a faint scratching noise at the window, but the sound was just loud enough to wake me up. I stayed silent, not eager to wake up June again.   
After a while, the scratching noise stopped, and I heard the noise of the window being moved. I became still as stone against June’s body and slightly bumped her. She flinched, then went silent, listening as I was. The window came in but didn't fall. Someone caught it. Then we heard a small thud on the ground as that person landed. Then another thud, and another.   
My face drained of color as more people came into the room. June curled in on me, always the protector. Then I heard a small whistle, then a thud. Abby whined, then went silent. Tranq dart, I was sure of it.   
June tensed, then slowly but surely moved her body to a crouched position. I did the same. The people in our room spoke in hushed voices. I could barely make out what they said. After a few words, though, I could hear three being tossed around. AIM, MODOK, and Baron strucker. The leaders of the Advanced Idea Mechanics, or AIM. This organization was one of the few other than the Avengers and the Fantastic Four who dared take on my father. It made sense they would come for us.   
I caught eyes with June, who looked absurdly calm for this type of situation. She must have dealt with many on the streets. June then slowly turned around, not making a sound. She slinked to the floor and let out a soft growl. The AIM agents turned to her and gasped. They tried to back up, but the door was closed. But I saw something else. Others were coming in the window now. But they had a different insignia on their suits. Hydra. These guys were supposed to be good with my father. But of course not. They were supervillains, for Christ's sake. So I jumped up too, turning to a snake and landing on June’s back, hissing at Hydra’s guys as June growled at AIM.   
The two groups stared at the other. We could tell that this was not a planned interaction. So in their confusion, June attacked AIM and I jumped on Hydra. Both teams jumped into action, grabbing their guns and readying their stunners. Once we reached them, they started to shoot, but we were too fast. Using the wall, we attacked soldier after soldier. I could feel Morganna cackling at the mayhem, but I pushed her down. Now was not the time to lose control. I bit into the soldier's necks with venom to knock them out, then looked out the window. The moon was mostly full tonight, which gave me the sight advantage.   
Through the dim light, I could see loads of other soldiers from both AIM and Hydra. I gulped and put my head back through the glass quickly as tranq darts ricocheted the building. How was J.A.R.V.I.S. not sensing this? I turned around, to find June standing in human form above the downed AIM soldiers, breathing heavily. She looked at me expectantly.   
“More outside,” I answered.   
She nodded and headed towards the window.   
“Wait!” I whisper-yelled. She turned back, frowning.   
“We need to wake the Avengers up. They’ll know what to do.” June gave a snarl of impatience, but nodded.   
“Go.” she rasped.   
I swung the door open, and ran, but skidded to a stop. I never knew which room everybody slept in. I frowned, looking around, then swore at my stupidity. But I didn’t have the time to find out. I ran to the nearest room and banged on the door. There was a grunt from inside, Followed by a rustle of sheets. Next thing I knew, I was staring right at a tired and annoyed Hawkeye.   
“What you want, kid?” he mumbled.   
“Quick!” I yelled. “We’re under attack from AIM and Hydra all at once! June’s fighting them now!”   
Hawkeye snapped awake at that. Without speaking, he retreated to his room and came out with all his gear on. We bolted back to June’s room and burst through the door. But the room was empty, save for a tranqed out Abby. There were scratched and bullet holes peppering the walls, but June was not there. I ran to the now shattered window and looked up. June was still fighting, but we could both see both her strength and resolve fading. I wondered if she would let Zira out to help her, or if it was too risky. All I knew was that if we didn’t come, she would have to.  
So I turned to a bird and squawked June’s name. Hawkeye followed out the window, saying something in his communicator as he went. June turned to me and held out her hand, hoping to combine. But as she wasn’t looking, and AIM agent shot a dart, and it burrowed itself into June’s chest. I screamed as her eyes fluttered shut and the same agent caught her. A whole new regiment guarded her, and a whole other one came after me. I snarled, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to beat them without Morganna. And she knew it too.   
My conscience was shoved aside, and Morganna took over. She then ripped through the agents with apparent ease. But afterward, she just turned to more agents, intent on shedding as much blood as possible. She eventually made it to Hawkeye, ready to hurt him, even. But I pulled at my body, and she stopped.   
“Why not this one? He looks so much fun,” she growled out loud, Hawkeye looking at her with fear in his eyes.   
“No.” I snarled in our brain. Morganna scowled but relented. She went back to the soldiers and continued to rip through their ranks. By the time I had deemed it enough and wrestled control back, all of the soldiers I could see were dead. But that is not who I was looking for. I spun around, desperate to find June. But she was nowhere. They had taken her.   
I let out a sob and slumped to the roof. Hawkeye came up behind me as the rest of the Avengers finally made it out the window. The wasp flew up to me, gasping when she realized what had happened. By the time the rest of the Avengers came up behind me, I was red-hot mad.   
“Why did it take you so long!?” I roared, turning around. Tears were spilling out of my eyes, but I didn’t care. The others flinched at my anger. I wanted them to. I wanted them to feel sorry. But I knew, deep down, it wasn’t their fault. It was mine.   
“I shouldn’t have left her, to get help. She wouldn’t be gone. It’s my fault. It’s my fault.” I clenched my eyes shut, trying to will out reality. I faintly heard a rustle, and then someone was hugging me. My eyes shot open, to see Captain America’s arms around me. I gasped, a bit uncomfortable. But the gesture was nice, nonetheless.   
I tried to dry my tears, but more kept coming. I wanted them to go away in my moment of weakness, but they wouldn’t. And anyway, I didn’t ask them to. I sort of wanted to, but then I didn’t. Why not? I didn’t know. Maybe I never would.   
I let Cap pick me up and bring me inside, even as I hated showing this vulnerability. I let him hold my hand to the meeting room, even as It made me seem small. I let him sit next to me and put a hand on my shoulder, even when It felt weird. Tony started the meeting.   
“We know that Hydra and AIM both attacked June, perhaps working together. So that leaves 100 compounds where she could be taken. Luckily, Clint tagged the ship she happened to be taken on.”   
I jerked my head up. This was promising. Tony continued.   
“Shield has also reported break-ins to Doom’s palace, supposedly leaving with tech. They have no idea what the groups will be doing with it.” I was deep in thought. If Both Hydra and AIM were working on this tech, and taking June was a part of it, then there could only be two solutions to such a problem. One being they needed her mechanics, but AIM literally meant the Advanced Idea Mechanics, so that wouldn’t work. And even if they did, why would Hydra and AIM team up on it? There was only one other option, but it was hard to think of. If they succeed, a danger to the world would be born again. I shivered, just as Tony asked,   
“Any ideas of what they might be doing?” to the group. I took a deep breath and stood up, bringing all attention to me.   
“I know what they’re going to do.” I gritted my teeth. “They’re going to bring out Zira. Permanently.”


	8. June

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evil plans!!!!

I vaguely remembered the fall. Everything had fallen silent, and I had only seen the night sky as my body jerked to a stop. A fleeting thought of escape passed through my brain, but my body wouldn’t follow the command. It wasn’t moving at all. The person under me, whoever it was, started to carry me to the Hydra plane. My brain tried to make my body put up a struggle, but it still wouldn’t respond. My body was put on the floor of the plane, and I thought I heard a scream. My body twitched in response, making 5 pairs of eyes turn to me. The plane started to move, and my brain commanded something from my body, but the most it could do was moan. And that was as much as I could do before I fell asleep.  
When I woke up, everything was faded and groggy. I didn’t know how long I had been asleep, but a clock very far from me told me it was already 8 o’clock in the morning. I had slept for 7 hours. I was horizontal on a table, and when I tried to move my body, they were held down by shackles. My eyes flew open and the grogginess faded. I tried to turn into something, but for some reason, I couldn’t. I called for help, for anybody to help. But nobody answered.   
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to relax. I could get out of this. I felt my hands around for any tech, but the table was plastic. No electric current was anywhere close. I sighed, then turned my head and tried to look down. The table I was on was a normal table, no tech in sight. I tried to concentrate and started to think of an alternative escape until I heard someone talking outside the door. I strained to hear it.   
“You AIM scum!” the man snarled. “You promised that we could get Morganna and you Zira. But you made us fail to catch Morganna. What do you think Red Skull is going to say?”   
“I don’t care about what your leader does to you. We have Zira, and that is all I care about. But because I honor our deal, I have a proposal.”   
“What is it, then? Spit it out!” The supposed Hydra agent spat.   
“I propose that, since the Avengers will most likely come here with Morganna to take back Zira, we can unleash Zira with the safeguard, and then we can catch them all. It’s a win-win for both of us, and the Avengers as extras.”   
My heart started to pound. Bring out Zira? Did they know how dangerous that was? But they also had mentioned a safeguard. Could a safeguard really control Zira? And the fact that Lily and the Avengers might come to save me was probably a given. Lily could be persuasive. I just hoped she would be careful. Hydra was a dangerous foe, and lining up with AIM made them a chaotic combination.   
The door opened, and the two agents walked purposefully inside. I laid stock still, staring deep into their eyes. They shifted a bit, uncomfortable at the stare. The AIM agent didn’t say a word as he moved my table out of the room and down a hallway.   
“Hey,” I said. He didn’t respond. Neither did the Hydra agent.   
“Where are you taking me?” I snarled. They didn’t answer to that, either. So I stopped asking. They rolled my table past countless rooms, where scientists and armed guards alike gaped and stared at me. I shifted a bit under their stares.   
Finally, we entered a large room filled to the brim with electronics. I practically salivated at them all. So many escape routes, so far away. But then I saw the main attraction in this room. A machine. A big machine. But as I looked closer, I recognized it. It was the machine my mother had left, to practice to fight Zira’s control. A machine to bring Zira out.   
I started to sweat, and I struggled profusely. More guards were brought in as they unstrapped my bands to transfer me to the machine's grip. I kicked and struggled, yelling at the top of my lungs. But without the advantage of my powers, the agents easily overpowered me. They strapped me down to the machine, then held my head in place, even as I tried to jerk it around. My heart was crushing against my ribs. Another scientist came up to me with a big techy collar, outlined in wood so I couldn’t escape. He fitted it around my neck, even if it was a bit big on me. But I knew who it was for.   
Then a hum came from the machine as it powered up. I yelled and tried to jerk my head away again, but the guard kept it firm. Two beams of red light shot from the machine and started to bury themselves in my eyes. I felt Zira scream with pleasure as she started to come to the surface. I started to see my eyes fill up red, but I jerked my head out of the way one final time. The scientists yelled something, and another guard’s hands latched onto my head and dragged it into place. The light continued to pour in, and my eyes started to fill up again. The only option now was to fight Zira. I pushed her down, and down, but the light was making her stronger. She broke through and started to pull my consciousness down. I couldn’t do anything now. So I screamed my defeat.


	9. Lily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally get to see Zira out and about!

The hours it took to wait for the tracker to stop and to get on the plane and fly and to get to the compound where June was were excruciating. I wished to god that Hawkeye had put a tracker on June, and not just the plane. But there was nothing we could do now. When we entered the compounds airspace, Tony led the way and we all jumped on another AIM plane we had been tailing. We landed as light as possible, but he might have heard it. I didn’t care. I just wanted to get June out of there before they turned her. Then she might be lost. I wished I could get into the plane’s cockpit to make it go faster, But for now, we stayed on the top.   
Finally, the plane came in for a landing, and we made it to an overly large air duct. I checked my watch. 8:00. I chose a path and took it. Iron man finally stopped me and we all split off into groups. I was with Wasp, which I was happy for.   
We moved along, me turning into a wolf and managing to catch a whiff of her. I had to restrain myself, so I moved slow and steady, following her trail. Finally, I made it to a grate above a small cell room, to see June lying on a plastic table, bound down. Her eyes were wide open, but she must not have been able to see us. I myself almost leaped at the grate, but Wasp held me back. I gave her the dirtiest look I could muster, but she just pointed. I looked back to see two men come into the room, then moving June’s table out. I turned around and headed down the air duct to follow June. She was trying to ask what was going on, but nobody answered her.   
We followed her to a lab of sorts. My heart lurched to my throat as I saw what was there. The thing that would bring Zira out. June noticed this too and started to struggle as a ton of guards transferred her to the machine. Wasp gasped and Morganna cheered. I let rage overtake me and I slammed at the grate. But it didn’t even budge. I turned white and slammed into it as a bear. Not even a dent.   
June screamed as the light entered her eyes and filled them up with red. Se pulled out of the light, but more guards just held her more securely. As her eyes turned completely red, June let out a shriek, then fell silent. That shriek was the last of June’s struggle. A calm frown went over her face as she transformed.   
Soon, a monsterous werewolf was on the table where June had been, ripping at the bindings and landing on the floor with an unnatural grace. She had a thoughtful frown on, but I could see the pride in her eyes from triumphing June. 

I fought back to stay silent as sobs wracked my body. June had always hated Zira, had always only used her as a last resort, but here she was, standing in June’s place. Zira stood up slowly, as if the people around her weren’t worth her time. She felt for a wooden band around her neck that I had not seen before. An AIM agent stepped up.   
“ We have outfitted you with a coller so we may have protection. One move against us, and we will shock you.” Zira’s eyes narrowed, but she did not respond.   
“We wish you to capture and bring Lily and the Avengers here, so I, I mean we, can have a super-powered army controlled at our fingertips.” I could tell that Zira was not impressed. But she could not resist.   
“By what method may I capture them?” Zira drawled. Her first words. The AIM agent sucked in a breath.   
“By any means necessary.” Zira smiled at last. Despite her predicament, she could always get behind destruction and chaos.   
“Go.” snarled the AIM agent. Zira went down to a mock bow and nodded. She knew who was in control. For now.   
“It will be my pleasure, master.”  
By the time we were all able to meet up with the others, I felt like I was in shambles. Despite all of our training, I had never been able to beat Zira. Dad had barely been able to do it himself. And that was when June was 7. At 15, who knew what she would be like. Wasp told the rest what had happened, and what Zira had to do. There were plenty of gasps, but my eyes stayed on Hawkeye. On the ride here, Wasp had told me his story, to which I had been quite disturbed. Now, though, he looked resigned to what was happening, probably hoping for revenge. We eventually decided to head down.   
So we found a grate above a well-lit and empty hallway, and moved down slowly and carefully. When we made it down, we prowled slowly and carefully down empty hallways.   
“Where did everybody go?” Wasp asked.   
“AIM isn’t stupid,” I replied in a husky voice. “They’re giving Zira room to hunt.”   
The lights behind us suddenly shut off, and we all whirled around to hear a voice come out of the darkness.   
“Indeed you are correct,” Zira drawled as she stepped into the light and turned to me.  
“Hello, little sister. I see you are as smart as I left you. And as weak.”   
“Zira,” I said back calmly. Not being polite could win you a death sentence. As messed up as Zira was, I had to admire her manners before she fought. But during the fight? Not so much.   
The Avengers stood stock-still behind me. Zira rolled her neck, popping a few joints with a grunt. Then she lurched forward, slamming me against the fall holding my throat in her claws. I gasped and struggled, Zira cutting off circulation enough that I could not transform. The Avengers stood on their guard, angry and ready, as Zira studied me with a laugh. Then she let go.   
“I will give you two minutes to prepare,” she whispered. “Then I will come after you.” She jumped above the Avengers and slinked off into the hallway, leaving everybody shocked and me rubbing my neck. The Avengers turned to me. I knew that they needed help, so I racked my memory.   
“Zira is a destructive force, but she is also unpredictable. Don’t count on her being crazy, but don’t count on her being clean, either. She’ll do what you don’t expect, then change her tactic to another thing. In other words: expect the unexpected.” I racked my brain for more, sure I was missing something. But for the life of me, I couldn’t recall it. So we moved around to find a larger gym space, and spread out around the room, stretching. Counting under my breath, two minutes went by faster than I cared to admit.   
As soon as they were up, and not a second more, a low howl erupted through the space, signaling the hunt. The howl itself ripped through my bones, made my head go near-blank with fear. Then Zira’s voice bounced off the walls, eerie like a ghost’s.   
“Come out, little Lily. Don’t you want to be sisters again? Don’t you want to see June again?” I tried not to listen.   
“Give me my sister, Lily Doom. Give me what I most desire.” As much as I wanted to close my eyes and will myself away, I couldn’t. Not with her. I immediately knew when Zira entered the room, shutting off most of the lights except for one in the middle. She then attacked the nearest Avenger, which just happened to be Hawkeye. He flew an arrow at her, but the dodged it and kept going. She slammed into him and flew him into the light. Surprise flickered over her face.   
“I know you.” She smiled then. “You’re the little boy from the car crash. How are your parents doing?” Hawkeye let out a roar of rage and we all flew at her. She barked a laugh and spun into action, jumping to each of us in turn. Every time we tried to land a hit, she was gone, and already given 3 punches to you. I was still winded from a recent attack when she struck again, slamming me against the wall. I wriggled out and went around her as a snake, biting her.   
But she didn’t even feel it.   
Cap followed with a punch and a crack of his shield to her leg, but she didn’t flinch. Instead, she grabbed me with a snarl and hurled me at him. I turned to a hawk and flew away as the rest of the team attacked, but she only started to smile. A cackle escaped her lips.   
“Hit me again!” she crowed. “I dare you!” Hawkeye happily obliged and sent an arrow grazing her eye. She shut it, to leave a scar, but as soon as I blinked, the scar was gone, as if it had never been there.   
“Trap her!” cap yelled. We all changed tactics, trying to get her toward the hallway, which Wasp closed from the other side. Zira obliged for a moment, then tore through us like paper mache. She flew right at me, an expression of rage on her face. She punched and kicked, making me sport more bruises and cuts than I could count. Then I heard a crunch from my arm, and pain flashed my eyes. I let out a scream, but it was cut short by a punch to the head before blackout.


	10. Cap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything just crashes down like my grades.

Zira was brutal as she slammed into Lily. She broke her arm and knocked her out in less time than I could blink. Then, she was gone, off to change her to Morganna. Wasp led the way to the lab, flying at her top speed as we sprinted and flew behind her. Zira wasn’t wasting any time, leaping off of walls to increase her speed. We tried to keep up, until we heard a howl of triumph that coursed into another one.   
“Turn back!” I yelled, and we all made our way to go as far as the building allowed. Zira and Morganna cackled behind us, snarling at each other to reach us. When we would look back and see them at the end of the hallway, they had wild looks on their faces, Morganna smaller than Zira, both intent on getting to us.   
Finally, Zira put on a burst of speed and made it to Janet, who she slammed against the wall. Soon the pair were swallowed, with Morganna still coming in for prey. I wanted more than anything to go back for Janet, But Morganna was still right behind us. I had to make a decision. To submit or let another submit.  
“Go!” I roared, then turned around, sliding to a stop. Morganna slammed into me with the force of a truck, hurling me to the floor.   
“What a noble sacrifice, caption,” Morganna snarled. “A shame your efforts will be for nothing!”   
I allowed Morganna to shove me to the lab, which already had Janet trapped to it. She was struggling as a red light flowed into her eyes, but the fight was fading. I tried to fight out of Morganna’s grip, but her hand was like a stone for how much it moved. Janet let out a scream, then fell silent.  
I watched as a new Janet rose from the straps, a person who looked like the Wasp but had ruby-colored eyes. This new persona smirked, then walked right past me without a passing glance. Morganna shoved me forward into Zira, who grabbed me and swung me under the machine and strapped me in.   
“I’ll get more,” Morgnna muttered as if she didn’t like to watch the machine for too long. Neither did Zira, for that matter. I was sure they’d destroy it as soon as possible. But for the time being, she dutifully put a collar for control around my neck, because if she didn’t she’d be shocked herself. I tried to struggle out of the way, but she just grabbed my neck and shoved it on, then pressed a few buttons to turn on the machine.   
Red beams of light flowed into my eyes, and I immediately felt like I was being dragged by something to the back of my mind. I tried to move, but there were no limbs to move. The thing dragging me back started to move to the front of my mind, but I imagined my consciousness expanding, stopping the thing, who shrieked in rage loudly enough for me to lose control. I continued to drift in the dark until a light came up ahead.  
I jerked awake in a sort of pod, with no straps holding me down. I tapped at the dome's surface, then saw I wasn’t wearing my suit. I did have my body, but I was outfitted in a white cotton shirt and grey sweatpants. No shoes or socks. I brought my fist back, then slammed it into the surface, smashing it. Seeing it trying to seam back together, I leaped out of the pod. The weird stuff the pod was made of solidified behind me.   
I breathed out a quick breath, then stood back up. Looking back, I saw a row of pods identical to mine. Three of them were occupied, with a sleeping Janet, Lily, and June. Janet didn’t have any straps to hold her back, as I had, but both June and Lily had iron bands strapped against their wrists, ankles, and necks. June even had some extra protection with her head surrounded by electric stingers if she moved. All 3 were asleep.   
I ran to Janet’s pod and ripped it open, causing her to fall out. With a small yelp, I caught her and lowered her to the slick metal floor. As I did, her eyes flickered then opened. She didn’t have her suit on either, but she could still transform. She just didn’t have any electric stingers. As she woke up, she jolted to her bare feet, also clothed in a white t-shirt and grey sweatpants. She looked around, saw me, and relaxed.   
“Where are we, Steve?” I shook my head.   
“I have no idea. But maybe we can get June and Lily out and they could tell us.” Janet turned around and nodded.   
“Why do you think they have so much protection and not us?” I inspected the bands.  
“Perhaps the “others” believe it is necessary.” I ripped open the pod door as I had done with Janet’s and tried to pull at Lily’s bands, but had to retract my hands before the pod sliced them off. Then, I felt along the wall for a secret compartment for some sort of control panel. I hit a button labeled “open”, and both the pod and metal bands slackened, making Lily fall out of the pod, Janet barely able to catch her and lay her on the floor. Free from the pod, Lily stirred, and I turned my attention to June’s pod. Walking to it, I found the control pad then pushed her open button. As the pod and iron bands fell away, June leaned forward to the stingers, but I stabilized her and brought her out slowly and carefully. Upon laying her down, I began to assess the girls.   
Lily still had a broken arm and a welt on her head, but when I turned to June I couldn’t believe my eyes. I saw the scar from Clint’s arrow across her eye and loads of injuries everywhere where we had hit Zira. How had they all gone to June? What’s more, June still appeared fast asleep. Until she tensed in pain, and another scar showed up on her arm that wasn’t covered in the white t-shirt. I heard a groan from Lily, who now had a rather large scar on her broken arm. I tore off the sleeves on my shirt and made a sling for her arm as she woke up and winced. She awoke like leaping out of a bad dream, a gasp on her lips. She looked wildly around, finally fixing her eyes on June, who she crawled over to not using her bad arm in the sling. Then she turned to us, confused.   
“What are you doing here?” I looked at Janet.   
“Are we not supposed to be?” I answered. Lily shook her head, holding up June with one arm.   
“I just thought the machine only worked on us, but I suppose it would be fair to assume that we all have evil in us to be brought out.” She looked at her sling. “Thanks, by the way,” she added.   
I nodded back in acknowledgment.   
“Why are Zira’s and Morganna’s wounds showing up on you?” Janet asked. Lily thought for a moment as June groaned from another wound.   
“Well,” Lily mused, then slapped her head. “My God, I forgot! Zira and Morganna aren’t technically their own beings, per se. And as such, they don’t take the hit on their own form, so any hit you make while we are alive in here goes to us. When the punches start to hurt them is when we are dead.”   
“And how would you wrestle control back?” Janet asked slowly. Lily looked down at June.  
“You have to fight them, and win.”


	11. June

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I dunno what to say. Preparation, I guess.

The black, instead of comforting like my dream before, felt compressing now, pushing in on all sides. I kept hearing Zira laughing everywhere, as well as screams from everybody else. I heard the crack of bone and Lily’s scream. I heard Cap’s grunt and Morganna’s howl. I kept feeling pain like tiny red-hot needles everywhere, but especially across my eye. There was nobody to help, nobody to save me, nobody to care. But then I remembered something dad had said.   
“Fight. Even when it seems hopeless, even when nobody’s there to help, you are you. Fight with everything you’ve got.” So I started to block out the screams, the howls of the others. I blocked out the pain and the pressing and tried to wake up. To open my eyes.   
Fight,  
fight,  
fight.   
My eyes shot open immediately and I tried to sit up, making my body send shocks of pain everywhere. I hissed, then lay down again. When I looked up, Lily was looking at us with a concerned expression, as were cap and wasp behind her.   
“Are you okay?” Janet, I remembered, asked. I tried to nod, but the scar above my eye stretching to the top of my cheek seared, and I gasped. Lily looked back at the two of them, a silent conversation I could not hear. Every second put new bruises and scars on me, and now on Lily, cap, and Janet. I could see them on their arms where the white cotton t-shirt and gray sweatpants didn’t cover.   
I tried to sit up again, now with Lily helping me out, and despite the pain everywhere, I managed to get to an upright position. That task alone was harder than it should have been. All three of the people around me looked concerned. I knew what their looks meant. My words came out with bated breath,   
“I won’t be able to fight for a while.”   
“I guessed,” Cap replied. “And Lily can’t fight with a broken arm, and neither one of us is strong enough to beat Zira or Morganna in the real world.”   
“Just…” I grunted, trying to stand up with Lily’s help, “need to get my strength back.” A new wound showed up on my back, nearly making me blackout. I breathed in and out and waved Lily’s hand away, using the other to lean on the slick marble wall. Another little bruise showed up on my arm, but it didn’t hurt too much.   
I took my hand off of the wall and stood up as straight as I could, holding a straight face. 

Lily still looked worried, knowing my antics from before when I wanted to act tough, but she didn’t say anything. However, Cap and Janet had never known me like this, so they took my stance as fact. So they began to come up with strategies to beat Zira. Then, there was a pop, followed by another, and another. The pods next to ours were starting to fill up with the rest of the Avengers.   
Cap and Wasp began to run to them and get them out, and Lily helped with laying them down. I tried to run too but was forced to walk with all of the bruises and wounds. I ended up just helping Lily lay the rest down. As the rest of the Avengers woke up, they all noticed the scar across my eye as if they knew where it came from. Then they noticed all of the scratches and bruises on all of us, looking for specific ones that they must have caused. I knew I couldn’t blame them. They didn’t know the specifics of our others. Clint especially looked stricken over my wound, and I knew he had a grudge against me, but I guessed that he hadn’t wanted to intentionally hurt me.  
“Mmm, what happened?” Ant-Man mumbled, then snapped awake. “Where’s Janet? Is she okay?”   
Janet laughed softly as he saw her and relaxed. Hank, it seemed, had not thought that the “others” would spare her or cap. That feeling I knew quite well, the devastation that came with not knowing if your loved ones were dead or alive or in a fate worse than death. Lily came up behind me, making me jump, but she calmed me down with a hand on the shoulder and whispered,  
“Could we talk?” I nodded slowly, making the new face scar prickle.   
I walked with purpose down to the end of the hallway, with Lily watching my every move. I knew what this meeting would be about. As soon as we were out of earshot, Lily rounded on me.   
“Okay, cut the crap, June. I know you’re in no condition to fight Zira, nor I Morganna. So I can’t let you needlessly kill yourself trying to do so.” I scowled.   
“I wasn’t going to. I just need a bit longer to heal.”   
“And how long will that be?” Lily snarled.   
“As long or short as it needs to,” I replied calmly.   
“And who decides that? I don’t want to lose you, June!”   
I just stood there, wanting to say something but not finding the words. I wanted to reassure her, to say that I would never kill myself for nothing. Sighing, I made a hollow promise,   
“I promise to let you decide when I get to fight.” Lily nodded, comforted, and so we went back to the group. All of the newly turned Avengers were now up and about and had now joined in the ideas, but I could tell they were getting nowhere. No matter what, I would have to fight. Even if one of the Avengers managed to beat their “others”, they would be nowhere near able to beat Zira and Morganna in the outside world.   
I decided to start some stretches, loosening my body up, rubbing the areas where there was intense bruising. I didn’t care much if the others could tell that I had resigned myself to my fate, but since I was fighting, I had to be ready. When I felt that everything was loosened up, I started to head back to the group, Lily now practically on top Cap, furiously whispering rather loudly at him.   
“What do you mean there’s no other way?! My dad beat Zira on his own!”   
“Yeah, when Zira was 7 ½.” Cap retorted. Lily was beet red.   
“And anyway,” Cap continued, “She seems pretty ready to do it. I mean, if she thinks she can, then why stop her? You both were great training with us, she seems able to take care of herself.”   
“It’s because she doesn’t.”Lily snarled. “She may be a good fighter, but Zira is ruthless. Crazy. And June will just throw herself into any situation that will help us, regardless if she gets hurt or not. I’m telling you, she’s faking. I know her when she’s like this. She’s in a worse condition than she’s letting on. I know her better than you.”   
I coughed, breaking their tension. Everybody swung to me, surprised I was there.   
“If you’re going to argue about me,” I drawled, “Could you act like I’m in the room listening?”   
both Lily and Cap turned a bit red, but none reacted.   
“Now,” I began, “I may have a bit of a tendency to self-sacrifice, but is there really any other option here? Lily would be obliterated with her broken arm, and you guys wouldn’t stand up well to either of our others. Now, I recommend that we stop arguing in circles like chickens and get something done.” I tried to convey a no-nonsense tone, to hopefully shut down any arguments. Everybody seemed concerned and doubtful, but nobody spoke up.   
“Alright then,” I snarled. “Let’s go.” I turned quickly on my heels and headed in the semi-memorable direction I had taken years before when I was nearly 8 years old. I could barely remember it, but the way to where Zira’s will resided here seemed to call to me, leading the way.   
The white, slick walls continued on and on, around corners and intersecting hallways, most of which I passed by without a glance. Those paths were filled with unimaginable beasts, as I had learned many years before. Their moans and roars rebounded everywhere. The others remained silent but were probably filled with questions. Questions I didn’t want to answer and also didn’t have the time to answer.   
Questions that I could hopefully answer later.   
Finally, I started to hear the sound of movement that wasn’t our own and held up my hand to motion the group to stop. I took a knee and listened, finding Lily next to me, glaring right into my eyes. I glared right back. Peeking around the corner, I could see Zira typing at the screen that controlled my mind, with the visual showing what Zira saw. I narrowed my eyes to slits and motioned for the rest of the group to get back. Then, I walked straight down the hallway to where Zira stood. Lily let out a silent scream behind me to come back, but I didn’t turn around. She didn’t know how to deal with our mind others. Zira noticed me and smiled as I crossed the threshold into the room.


	12. Zira

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brutal fight, also Zira's point of view, which was cool to write.

The room was quiet save for my labored breathing. June had been taking a long while to come, and I wanted to eradicate her quickly so I may deal with those AIM fools, thinking they could harness my energy. If she didn’t come soon, I might have had to resort to finding her in that ghastly maze. Thankfully, that was not the case, as June materialized from the maze and into the room, a thoughtful frown upon her face. I forced out a small chuckle.   
“Well, well, well,” I began. “I didn’t know if you would ever come, with all of those wounds that your so-called friends gave you.” June’s face remained passive, her stance, stoick, as she replied,   
“ And yet I am still strong enough to come here, to fight you for control of my mind.” It was difficult to get into June Jessia Doom’s head, but there was always that special way around.  
“And I’m sure that Lily was completely on board with this fight.” I drawled.   
There. Finally. A crack in the armor.   
I could see it in the way June had flinched, and I had no doubt Lily was watching from behind the maze’s protection.   
“Oh, yes.” I continued, hopeful to widen this crack, “You don’t like it when I talk of your precious little sister. You know, come to think of it, I could fetch Morganna now to tell you exactly everything that happened inside the prison..” June snarled, and leaped at me. I bolted out of the way, cackling at the chance to finally eradicate June, to be free… But we just ended up across the space from one another again, just on opposite sides. June had a wild look in her eyes like she would gut me the first chance she got.   
“Don’t I get a weapon?” June seethed, making me remember the traditional rules of our little mind skirmishes. I waved a flippant hand at the wall to make a weapons rack appear.   
“As you please.” I finished. She sprinted to the rack, but slower than usual. It looked like the wounds were hurting her more than she let on. Good for me, bad for her.   
She retrieved two small poison-tipped daggers and flipped them in her hands, testing them, eventually deeming them satisfactory. Then she walked over to the spot where she had been. The fight would now begin.   
“Would those who bear witness to the fight please step forward,” June said thickly, as Lily and the rest of the so-called Avengers materialized out of the maze, Lily leading the way to a roped-off section of the space for spectators. I watched Lily closely, and with her grim face and worried eyes, I could tell that the decision to fight had been all June. Which meant that Lily did not think that she was well enough to fight. Perfect. Facing each other, we took a very deep bow that lasted 5 seconds exactly. Then, we moved in a perfect circle around the room, using careful steps, making sure to not let any weaknesses show.   
“Now, if I remember correctly, then it is your turn to attack first, little girl.” June nodded.   
“Indeed, Zira. However, it would be nice if you referred to me as something other than little girl. I am technically the same age as you.” I sighed.   
“Always so technical. I am awaiting your move, if you would like to make it.”


	13. Lily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blood warning, if needed.

As soon as Zira said the final words, June leaped forward with a snarl and struck out. I was sweating buckets, but June seemed to be faring well, ducking and skirting away when she could, attacking when possible. Zira’s smile had turned into a snarl, and they both attacked each other near silently, both with murder in their eyes. June started to rip Zira’s skin with gashes, but Zira opened up old ones in June. She seemed to try to get to the one on her eye especially. Cap leaned down, and I leaned to him.   
“What do you think?” he asked. I sighed, continuing to watch the fight. They were still ripping at each other, both fueled by the promise of freedom.   
“I really think it is too early to tell right now. Both seem equal at the moment.” Cap leaned back up. Zira now leaped at June with a snarl, and slashed at her leg, leaving a bleeding gash. June roared and turned to a cougar, leaping on Zira’s back and taking out a chunk of her shoulder, to which Zira howled in pain. June leaped off before Zira could grab her, leaving both of them breathing hard and seething, the floor starting to be covered in their blood. I knew that June had never talked about it, but I had never realized these fights were so brutal. Zira roared and leaped at June, claws outstretched. June tossed one of the daggers and ran at Zira, hissing as she went. Then, she slid on the floor beneath Zira, using the blood for less traction. Then, she stabbed up with the dagger, leaving it in Zira’s stomach. Zira let out a shriek, and spun away, now on all fours and wrenching the dagger out of her flesh. 

June was silent and ready. After all, Zira, though now dying, had a weapon, while June did not. Zira dropped the weapon in her hand and grabbed the other one, still coated with poison. Breathing heavily, she ran at June, who jumped over her. But Zira seemed to have been counting on that. I shrieked as Zira threw the dagger, seeing it burrow into June’s stomach. She fell with a thud, but did not pull out the knife until a few seconds later, and then all they did was stand in their own pools of blood that got bigger and bigger. Then I realized it. All June had to do now was wait for Zira to die first. Maybe. Zira seemed to be waiting for the same thing, seemed to think that she was in better shape.   
“What are you doing?” Janet muttered. “Finish her!” I shook my head, bringing everybody’s attention to me.   
“She doesn’t have to. If she attacked and failed, she would lose more blood. It would be better to wait it out, and they both know that.” Both girls were now sitting criss-cross in their own blood, holding their stomachs with both hands. Both trying not to move. Both watching the other with a pained frown.   
Suddenly, June whipped up the forgotten dagger next to her and whipped it at Zira, who gasped but couldn’t move fast enough. The dagger buried itself into her chest. Zira gagged, then slumped to the floor with rasping breaths. June waited for a few more pained seconds. Then Zira gasped out,   
“I surrender. I surrender. You will be my master. I am your servant.” I nearly whooped, and I could feel the relief from everybody else. June however, merely nodded, eyes closed. Then she very slowly got up in pained movements, and moved to Zira. We all stood and waited, confused. June had never explained doing anything after the fight the last time. Now, however, she took Zira out of her own blood and brought her to a pod, locking her in. The pod shined, then began to work on Zira’s injuries. But there was only one pod.   
I rushed over to June, who slumped. Cap behind me caught her and picked her up.   
“How does she get better?” he asked. I remembered suddenly what June had said before.  
“Have her touch the computer. Hurry!” I yelled, and he rushed over, and put June’s hand on the console, leaving a bloody handprint. A light flashed around June, and she was raised into the air. We all stared at the amazing spectacle. Then, June’s eyes opened, and she lowered to the floor, all of her wounds gone except for one. The one across her eye.   
“Why keep it?” I asked her. She shrugged.   
“I like it.” was her only excuse. I let out a sobbing smile, and ran to her, wrapping her into a hug. Janet followed into the hug, and soon everybody was around us. After a while we relented.   
“That was amazing.” Janet smiled, and everybody else nodded. But Hawkeye was still confused.   
“But why did you not let Zira die?” everybody then seemed to remember her, sleeping away while the pod repaired her. June sighed.   
“No matter how cruel she can be, she is still a part of me. Letting her die would be like letting me die. She wanted freedom from her as much as I do, and I have to respect that. Perhaps, when she wakes, I could let her out from time to time to get that freedom. Anyway, she is also a very valuable fighting asset.” I had to agree. Then June turned back to the computer.  
“I’m going to send you back to the pods, while I go back to the real world and turn everybody back.” She turned back to us and smiled.“See you on the other side.”   
A bright light surrounded us all, and then I found myself in a pod. Little windows in the pods showed Cap on my right and Janet on my left. We all smiled at each other, then began the wait. Suddenly, a small screen popped up in front of us, showing June’s view. She must have known that we might be worried or bored. The screen flashed, then materialized in the lab room. There was nobody else there. June then went out the door and wandered around a while, finally finding a weapons room. I could almost feel her excitement. She grabbed a bow and net arrows, warranting a laugh from Hawkeye. She strung those across her back, then left the room without another glance. She then locked the door behind her and ran down the nearest hallway.   
After a while, the evil version of Black Widow showed up, making Cap next to me tense in apprehension. June just simply shot an arrow that landed her in the chest, netting him to the wall. Janet whooped, but Cap remained silent, unnerved by the sight. I continued to watch as June dragged the evil Black Widow back to the machine and strapped her in, then walked to the computer and tapped something into it, none of which I could understand. However, I could hear Iron man making sounds of comprehension and awe a few pods down. Suddenly, Black Widow disappeared from the pod in a flash of light, corresponding to her then showing up in the machine and June unstrapped her. They said something together, then left the room and went off into a dark hallway. Then, a howl that ripped the skin off of flesh rebounded down the hallway. Morganna crept out of them, raging mad to see June.   
“You’ve killed her.” Morganna moaned. “You’ve killed her.”   
“I did not kill her,” June said. “She is alive and well.” Morganna fell to her knees.   
“Just let me see her. Let me see my sister.” I myself was taken aback. I had no idea that Morganna cared for Zira like this. June turned to Zira, evidenced by the increase in height from the screen. Morganna sobbed, and Zira folded her arms around her little sister, with Cap standing a fair distance away.   
“It is alright, little Mor.” Zira soothed. “June will let me out to see you, as I’m sure Lily will. You must surrender.” Then, she pulled off the collar on Morganna’s neck.   
“Come with me, Mor. Perhaps then we may be granted our own bodies.” Morganna nodded sadly, then stood up and followed Zira back to the lab, and allowed herself to be turned back. I could feel the machine tugging at me, and I accepted its pull. On the way back, I saw Morganna looking at me pleadingly. I nodded back.   
“Thank you, Mor,” I whispered, and Morganna smiled, then disappeared. I soon found myself under the machine, my heart crushing under my ribs. I sat up to see June, who smiled and held out her hand. I grabbed it, then got up. 3 down, 7 to go. The three of us headed out the door, and June sent me to the weapons room to gather supplies. I nodded and hurtled down hallways, using the way June had taken as my guide.   
When I eventually found it, the evil Janet stood in front of the locked door. I wondered if Janet herself could see me. This phantom snarled and leaped at me, stingers at the ready. I swerved out of the way just in time, and went to the door, smashing the lock with a swerve to the side as the phantom’s stinger connected with it. It shattered open and the phantom let out a shriek of rage, running at me again.   
I ran into the weapons room and wound an extra set of bow and arrow. As soon as I had it, I swerved around and let a net arrow fly. It hit her straight in the chest, and she shrieked again as she struggled against the net. Breathing hard, I loaded up the rest of the net-arrows into the last quiver, and grabbed an extra bow and swung that across my back too, just in case. Then, I grabbed the bow I used and went to where the netted phantom was. I grabbed the net and dragged it behind me, all while the phantom yelled curses and threats to my back. I finally made it to the lab drenched in sweat.   
I slowly but surely loaded the phantom into the machine as I heard more grunts down the hallway. Thinking it could be another phantom, I nocked and raised an arrow. But instead, Cap and June came around the corner, both grunting and sweating as they dragged Iron man behind them.  
“Oh, good, you’re here,” June grunted. “A little help?” I sighed, then ran over. I helped to hold him back as June turned Janet back. She came back in a gasp, getting up immediately and running over. I had nearly forgotten that everybody could see what we were doing. With the armor, we got Iron man into the machine, panting and sweating.   
“I’m gonna talk to Tony later about lightening the load of his suit.” Janet wheezed. June turned on the machine, and soon Tony was back, with a scowl on his face.   
“My armor isn’t that heavy,” he grumbled. None of us answered him, just panted in reply. Once we caught our breath, Juna and I ran out to keep collecting phantoms, leaving Tony, Cap, and Janet to stay behind. We ran through the hallways in a whisper, careful to make no sound and kept a net arrow loaded at all times. Creeping through the hallways, the silence was eerie, and I wondered where all of the AIM and Hydra agents from before were hiding their scrawny butts. Soon after I thought this a snarl made its way down the corridor. Then, the phantom Hult stepped out of it. And he was angry. I paled a bit but didn’t let go of my nocked arrow. As one, we let them fly, each one pinning down the phantom’s arms. The phantom roared and snapped the nets with ease. June shouted in surprise, and we both leaped to the walls as the phantom hulk hurtled past.   
I turned to a little sharp-shinned hawk to catch up to him, then used a rhino on top, to try to bring him down, to which he reached to his back for me. Before he could, though, June roared and leaped on him like the ferocious mother lion she was. She ultimately left a mark on his shoulder, and the phantom shrieked with such an inhuman sound, we both had to cover our ears.  
When the shrieking finished, we used about 10 net-arrows between us to tie him up. Sweating but proud, we stood back to admire our work as Janet shot around the corner in her miniaturized form. She re-sized, looking frantic.   
“What happened?” June asked in a tense voice, still looking at the phantom. Janet breathed out hard.   
“I should ask you the same,” she gasped. “I heard that shriek and thought you were in trouble, so I came.” I shrugged.   
“But as you’re here,” June mused, “Could you help us move him?”   
Janet moaned her protest but came closer anyway. Each of us grabbing a bit of net, we dragged and dragged, and the phantom grabbing onto walls during various parts of the journey didn’t help matters. We grunted and struggled, dragged and slid. Sometimes the Phantom even laughed at us. I was starting to get ticked off at that. Finally, June and I just turned to horses with Janet hitching us up with the nets, which made the weight easier to manage. But even with the horsepower, we grunted with the hulking weight.   
It must have been a good 30 more minutes before we made it back, leaving us drenched in our own sweat. The others took over, dragging Hulk the rest of the way and into the machine, and an exhausted June turned on the machine. The red light flowed into the Hulk’s eyes, and he turned back to Banner. Banner sat up with a gasp, then took us all in. June nodded, then beckoned Janet and me to follow. I let out a groan of protest but ordered my legs to move. Crazily enough, they obeyed, and the three of us moved out into the dark hallways again.  
After a few more heart-wrenching hours, we succeeded, after loads of effort and dedication, to turn most of the rest of the avengers. Most of them had been fine, but thor had been a major dusey. The only one left now was Hawkeye. Janet decided to stay behind this time, to help in the search for the Hydra and AIM agents. The dark and creepy hallways combined with the thick silence made it feel like somebody was watching us, even as my own animal-enhanced senses told me otherwise. For an extra precaution, I flared my heat powers with a flick of my wrist to feel for any heat signatures, but only found June’s and my own.   
As we made our way down the hallways bows loaded, I began to get more and more nervous, and I could see that June was too, from the sweat beading on her forehead. Finally, the hallway emptied out into a large room, perfect to set up a trap in. So we altered our feet and back to work like spiders, and climbed up the walls and set ourselves up two-thirds of the way to the ceiling, bows cocked and ready, our eyes altered to night vision. We waited in silence like this for a good Thirty minutes, waiting and watching. Finally, we saw the Phantom Cap make his way into the room, slowly and silently. Both June and I kept our bows trained on him, not even taking a glance at each other at his arrival. Simultaneously, we let our arrows fly, the nets inside of them springing free. The phantom dodged them, Locking onto where we were in the dark room with a frown. He used the wall as a kick-off to attack June, who just bounced off and turned into a falcon to fly away. The phantom then dropped to the ground in a flash, grabbed one of the forgotten nets, and threw it with a grunt. The net hit home, and June fell with a squawk, turning human again before hitting the floor with a groan.   
“June!” I yelled, and left the safety of the wall to meet her. The phantom paused, assessing me for threats, most likely. When finished, he ran to the both of us, June now trying to get up from the fall, but was having a hard time moving without wincing or grunting in pain. I was the only one between him and her. The phantom attacked hard, but June laying immobilized on the ground behind me fueled me to fight harder than I ever had before. However, with Cap taking all of my attention, The Phantom Hawkeye snuck behind me and went for June. The first time I realized this was after he had gotten to her, and a painful grunt from June from having to dodge an arrow. She held herself protectively as she stood hunched over, staring at the Phantom Hawkeye through pained eyes.   
The Phantom snarled, then sent three more arrows her way, all while the phantom Cap continued to relentlessly attack me, hoping to injure me as well. Why, I had no idea. I clashed with Cap with everything I had, both of our staminas eventually dwindling. And as if the fates didn’t think we were being challenged enough, loads of AIM and Hydra agents spilled into the room, forming a perimeter around us and raising their blast guns.   
June and I caught each other's eyes, making the decision. I then shoved the Phantom Cap away and turned into a falcon, swooping up, around and down, turning back at the last second to connect with June. As soon as our hands touched, a plasma ball of electricity and heat surged around us, and I could start to feel the merging process as we became one. I could feel June’s injuries, but my strength made up for them. When we were fully formed, I could feel the power thrumming through our combined dragon body. Both of our heads let out a massive roar to alert the other Avengers as the heat returned to the room and the walls sparked with electricity in their wires once more. All of the LG’s went off at once, lighting up the room. We roared, then swung our tail around, knocking many men down and out, but the phantoms managed to jump out of the way. They then leaped onto our back, cap getting his shield ready and Hawkeye his arrows. June saw it first and reared our entire body, forcing the two to jump off. She then let loose a volley of lighting from her mouth, electrocuting a good portion of the Hydra men, while AIM remained safe from their suits. I let out a volley of fire to match June’s lightning.

The men ran out of the way, shouting, scrambling for an opening. They looked so small from our point of view, but father had told us to never underestimate anybody. So we continued in our assault, forcing the men to retreat. When they were out the door, I melted the ceiling above a door and sealed it with hot metal, making the other door the only way in or out.   
Suddenly exhausted, both June and I stopped our attack and sat, panting a bit. We then heard distant sound of battle, and out ears flipped up to hear it. There were yells of many men, followed by the grunts of a certain group of Avengers. June grinned when I did. The Avengers were coming. After a few more minutes, there was silence. We looked at each other, unsure of who had won. Then, footsteps approached, and we stood up and snarled at the entrance, opening our mouths to blast whoever was coming if needed. But it was the Avengers that came in, so we closed our mouths against the lightning and fire in them.   
The team looked around at all of the cooked bodies lying around like charred, limp dolls. June’s head suddenly slumped, her injuries from before finally catching up to her in our enhanced state. Our form began to feel weak, and it was soon a struggle to keep up the transformation at all. Finally, I let the transformation go, as the drainage on our energy wasn’t worth it. There was a huge flash of light, and we were human again. June groaned and slumped to the floor.   
“June!” Racing toward her, I grabbed her and held her up. Her eyes were glassy and unfocused. The team ran over, and immediately they looked her over. Banner frowned, then stood up.   
“Did she fall or something?” he asked, and I nodded back.   
“Around a story or so.” He grimaced, then sighed.   
“She probably has internal bleeding from the fall, probably in the back from the blunt force. We have to get her back to the tower fast.”   
Iron man took out something from his suit and placed it on June’s chest. The machine then expanded and encompassed her entire body in a suit.   
“That should keep her stabilized until we get back,” he explained. A display on her stomach region showed her heartbeat, her diagnostics, and her condition. There was a bit of whirring before a gasp came from inside the suit, and June sat up, bewildered.  
“What is this?” she asked apprehensively.   
“You had internal bleeding, so Tony gave you a suit to stabilize you and keep you fighting,” Bruce replied.  
“Will I still be able to use my powers?” Bruce thought for a moment before replying.  
“I don’t know. Personally, I don’t think it’s a very good idea to change unless you allow Zira to come out and heal you from inside your head. The only question is if you trust her enough to take care of that.”   
The helmet of the suit flipped back to show a thinking June, weighing all of the pros and cons of such a situation. The suit beeped from the helmet loss, but otherwise stayed silent. June waited a while, probably talking to Zira in her head, before nodding.  
“I think It’s a good idea. Besides, Zira wants revenge on AIM and Hydra for trying to control her. I made her promise to try to contain herself.” June then concentrated, and changed into Zira, the fur and height of her wrapped around June like a slimy blanket, finally opening her eyes after fully consuming June.

Transformation complete, a thick cloud of tension hung over the room, with the group looking at Zira and her looking back a bit sheepishly.   
“Is June healing?” I asked. She nodded back.  
“Given the intensity of the damage and that the wound is internal rather than external like mine was, The process will take longer, maybe 2 hours or so. Afterward, she’ll be good as new besides that scar she wanted to keep.” She rolled her eyes as she said that, as if she couldn’t comprehend why anybody would want to keep a weakness on their body. I thought it looked cool, myself. The rest of the team continued to stand stock-still, making it a bit uncomfortable.  
After a while of silence, I sighed and grabbed Zira’s arm before swinging her around to follow me, which she did without hesitation to get away from the awkwardness behind her. Trotting a little to keep up with her, I turned my head up to her and asked,   
“Why were you so vicious before, when you could have just cooperated and we would have given you time in our body?” She was silent for a moment before replying.  
“At first, when I was created, all I was was a force of destruction and wrath, and it isn’t very easy to get over that. When I was finally able to feel anything other than destruction, it had been too late. I believe that I was around 7 ½ at the time. You may have heard of my rampage from others.”  
I gasped when I realized when that was, and immediately felt sorry to think of her only as a monster who had no conscience. But I suppose that is what she had been at the time. I nearly missed Zira continuing.  
“ But when I started to feel things, it seemed like a whole world of possibilities opened up to me, only to realize I had ruined my chances before I had even known about them. It was heartbreaking to realize this, so I began a pet project to create a relative freedom within the mind itself. I already had that world in my mind, but I desperately wanted to see my sister, and I had little to no hope of June bringing me out to see her, and you were thrown out so quickly anyway.”  
“So I created the hive mind, and in that, I met Morganna for the first time. That hive mind also explains why your fellow avengers were able to team up with you altogether. Anyway, we bonded and all, but I knew Morganna was getting restless, having never been brought out before. She became obsessed with taking over Lily and seeing the outside world, and her enthusiasm eventually caught on to me. I started to take notice of taking over June when her emotions were erratic and used them to feel the outside world. However, June’s rage would go to me, and I would then be the monster that you saw. During the time in between, I spent time with Morganna and got to know her and we became close. Then, all this happened, and when I was freed, AIM got me again, so I had to act the part. When June challenged me, I hoped it was a chance at freedom, but I lost. What is happening now...is a mercy.”  
I nearly tripped over my own feet to hear the explanation. The fact that Zira and Morganna merely wanted freedom, and that their animal rage came from us, and not them. I felt the need to apologize, but I had the feeling that Zira didn’t want apologies. She wanted action. So I stilled my mouth and simply followed her silently through the hallways.


	14. Lily

After a while, just wandering the hallways for someone to take them to the control room became aggravating, so we decided to split up and find it ourselves, two people to a group. Naturally, I went with Zira, because she wouldn’t go with anyone else. Everyone kept eyeing her with suspicion, and before we split up Tony even pulled me aside.  
“Are you sure you want to be with her alone? She just nearly killed June and tried to kill all of us. The fact that she wants to be with you alone may be that she wants to help bring out Morganna and trap you both in their minds.” I scowled up at him, knowing that the truth would have no effect on him if I told him or not.  
“I trust Zira, and therefore I will go with her. She is not as you think.” I forced out, teeth gritted in a grimace, before turning away and stalking back to a slightly amused Zira. I raised an eyebrow at her, and she shrugged.  
“I merely thought that you good guys always got along and stuck together, but now I see that you quarrel and disagree like any other.” I sighed in frustration but nodded.  
“There are always fights in friendship. But friendship means that you can get over them for your friend, and vice versa.” Zira took this in with a slightly wistful expression.  
“I just wish that I could be with Morganna now. However, your company is beginning to feel as good as hers does. June is lucky to have you as a sister.”   
“Yes, well…” I continued with a smile, “Morganna and June are both lucky to have you. Without you, June would be fighting for her life now.” Zira smiled back at the praise, most likely the most she had received by anyone but Morganna.   
Now on better terms, we left down the hallways as everybody split up. Zira had given up the happy look for a stoick one, using all of her senses to look for Hydra or AIM agents. I was fascinated by how her ears moved at the slightest sound, and how her nose twitched when sniffing the air. Suddenly, Zira stopped dead in her tracks and yanked me to a stop. Her eyes held a dismayed expression and her tail flicked with apprehension. I looked at her, questioning, but before I could say anything, she moved and pulled me around a corner just as I could hear the clomp of boots myself. I looked at Zira in understanding as she put a finger to her mouth. Soon after the boots' noise, I could hear the agents chuckling to themselves.  
“It would be pretty cool if we captured June and Lily, we haven’t had a chance, and there isn’t any other opportunity as the rest of them are already captured.” Both of us stilled at his words. The other agent continued in a more serious tone.  
“Yes, but if we want to catch them, then you have to shut your trap and not be so loud stomping around. They’ll hear you a mile away.” They heard the other guard mutter under his breath at the insult but did as he was told. His footsteps and speaking noise lowered dramatically. Both of us held our breath as they passed by, oblivious. As soon as they were far enough away, Zira stood up slowly and pointed to a vent leading to the crazily oversized air ducts. Walking under it, she reached up, leaped, and grabbed the air duct grate. With a yank, she fell back to the ground with it, then boosted me up into the vent. I began to hear boots again as Zira jumped up, reaching for me. I grabbed her wrists and yanked her up, and with a quick turn, she replaced the grate as the two men from earlier passed again, with annoyed looks on their faces.   
“You’d think they would have been a bit more patient, but noooo. Of course they would call us back to lure the two girls there themselves. Now Bart and Andy are going to take all of the credit. Figures.”  
“Yeah.” The other muttered, then lit up. “But if the plan goes bad, we aren’t going to be blamed for it! At least that’s an upside.” The other guard chuckled at the promise.  
As soon as the guards left, I turned to Zira, but she didn’t even look at me. Instead, she turned in the direction that the guards had gone and started to prowl in that direction, face devoid of emotion. I realized that she was following them as I crawled after her. Soon, I turned into a wolf to be able to keep up on all fours. As we trotted along, the air started to reek with the fear of the Avengers, and both of our noses wrinkled at the stench.  
“And you wonder why it’s always too easy to find you,” Zira muttered. I nodded back, the scent still assaulting my senses.   
Finally, we reached the room where they were being held. All of them were being held in small circular glass prisons, some with power dampeners around them. The Cap and Hawkeye phantoms wandered around, watching them. We stepped back to the back of the vent to make a plan. Zira let out a low rumble in her throat as she thought.  
“You might not like this, but we might have to act that you are captured or turn you into Morganna and act evil. Only one of those will completely solidify the Avenger’s trust in me.” I shook my head.  
“Even if they don’t trust you now, I will make them understand later. It would be more effective to have Morganna come out. That way, I can also oversee June and talk to you like an earpiece if things get hot via the hive mind.” Zira didn’t look thrilled to splinter the trust with the Avengers, however small, but agreed on the course of action. I breathed in a steadying breath, then changed into Morganna.


	15. Zira

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Look at this beautiful disguised redemption stuff!

When Lily was fully transformed, I exchanged a quick hug with Morganna before explaining what we would exactly do to gain the tenuous trust of AIM and Hydra. We then crept back a few hallways then pulled out a vent opening with a grunt, jumping down swiftly and silently. After replacing the grate, we were on our way, Lily stating comments here and there on how we should look and act when we got there. My ears flattened against my head in annoyance, so Lily stopped. Morganna snickered.  
“What?” I asked.  
“You always flatten your ears when you’re annoyed. It’s funny.”   
I scowled in return.  
When we finally neared the door. I took a deep breath in and out and stepped inside. At once, around thirty guns were trained on us with the unphantomed Avengers staring, some in confusion, some in horror.  
“Zira, Morganna, state your business.” One Hydra agent snapped. I snorted at the officialness of it all.  
“What does it look like?” I snarled, to the whitening of the Avenger’s faces. The Agents faltered, unsure of whether to take us at our word or not.  
“Lower your guns. I wish to speak to them.” A voice from the back said softly, but not without power. My ears pricked up at the sound of it. When the man who had spoken came out so we could see him, I let out a gasp as I recognized him. Baron Strucker. Quickly, I sank onto a knee and motioned for Morganna to do the same. Strucker eyed us thoughtfully for a moment. Finally, he motioned for us to stand.  
“I believe that you have more than proven your worth. Your respect for me has only solidified that trust. You both are welcome here.” We both bowed our head in mock thanks.  
“Though I must ask, what happened to June and Lily?” The Avengers leaned forward. I took a deep breath to contemplate my answer.  
“June is dead, Lily trapped. We will deal with her later.” Morganna growled. I had to agree with it, so I nodded. Wasp slammed on the glass she was trapped in, but if she said something, the glass didn’t let me hear it. I flattened my ears in annoyance, but Lily spoke in our heads,  
“Good job so far, wait till Strucker leaves before you attack. In the meantime, look for the control panel.” My eyes glanced around for it, finding it parked against the far wall.   
“Quite the technology you have here.” I mused, giving myself a reason for looking around. Strucker nodded.   
“I heard your father had taught you mechanics. Please come with me.” I followed obediently as I heard Lily’s voice.   
“Morganna, attack while Zira is gone.”  
Strucker led me a good while away from the room, and the further we went the more uncertain I became. In the time that I had had control of June, I had never even thought to go this far, as there was nothing of interest here. And certainly not any substantial tech. I stopped short, and soon Strucker had turned to face me.  
“Rather clever of you to figure it out so quick,” he smirked. “Other warriors far smarter than yourself have been fooled by that trick. What tipped you off?”  
“When I had the whole place to myself, I looked around near the area but could smell no substantial tech. And, you have led me just far enough that my scent will not be picked up by Morganna.” He nodded thoughtfully. With a snarl, I lurched toward him as he made a swift movement toward a weapons rack nearby. He grabbed two guns and immediately fired them, but they whistled by as I dodged. With a lunge, I ran at him, claws out and ready. After dodging a few more bullets, I reached him, and wrenched the guns out of his hands and threw him across the hallway. He landed with a satisfying thud before quickly getting up and running. A low growl came from my throat and my ears flattened in annoyance as I ran after him. As we ran, I could start to smell and hear the heat of battle, if not a hint of uncertainty. That uncertainty made me run harder, paws pounding on the shining metal floor. As corners came about, I launched off of them and into the next hallway, causing Strucker to come into my grip faster and faster. With a roar, I launched at him, but at the last second, he ducked around a corner. I turned into it with a growl, but he was gone, probably hiding in one of the rooms lining the hallway. But when I smelled all the faint activity from the hallway, I realized what was in the room next to me.  
The turner. And Strucker had to have gone in there, knowing my hesitation.   
Swallowing up my fears took some time, but I finally took my last deep breath and charged into the room. Upon entering, I couldn’t see anything out of place, like he wasn’t here.   
But my nose knew better.  
His scent was clouding up everywhere in this room like a fresh skunk spray. I could smell him particularly well by the control panel, and as expected, I could hear the faint hum of the machine. However, being focused on that made me oblivious to another hum of electricity.  
“If you wish to remain conscious, I suggest you not move.” Came Stucker’s voice from behind me. A low growl started to slither up my throat, but I quickly shoved it down.   
“Turn around.” I did so slowly and carefully. The stunner was crackling with electricity and was about two inches from my throat. The fur nearest to it had already started to fizz with electricity.   
“In case you are thinking of hiding in this weapon, I must say that it has been modified to your abilities. If you try to enter you will be shocked.” The growl from before finally made it out.  
“Now, you are going to lay down on that table while I bring out June.”  
“She’s hurt, and not done healing,” I muttered, trying to buy any time that I could.   
“Good, I don’t want her in working condition anyway.” My ears pricked in confusion and interest at the words.  
“Both of you have proved too troublesome to keep alive, for us or for anybody else, especially the Avengers. Now, climb into the machine like a good dog, or suffer the consequences.”  
When I didn’t move, the shock device went into my fur, and I could feel the electricity course through my body, making me roar in pain and fall to my knees. Now that I was protecting June, all the pain would stay with me.  
“Don’t make me do that again.” Strucker murmured, before he brought the device down again. This time, I let out a pained howl. I had no more strength to do anything now as I fell to the floor in a heap. Eyes bleary, I could barely see the other guards come in and pick me up and into the machine and strap me down. Not that I could have fought back anyway. I tried to raise a shaky paw to stop them as they turned on the machine, but when the red light burst into my eyes, there wasn’t anything I could do to stop it. In the darkness of the front of our mind, I could see June’s consciousness coming up slowly, and it was a bit of a shock to see her awake. Her form reached out to touch mine.  
I’m sorry. I can’t protect you anymore.  
That’s okay. I’ll take it from here. A pause.  
I’m lucky to have you as an other.  
And as much as I wanted to, there wasn’t anything more to do or say as she floated up to the top.


	16. Lily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven’t updated, school was being school.

The time spent fighting the AIM and Hydra soldiers took longer than I thought it would. They had many tricks up their sleeves, but Morganna was still way more skilled, so now she was the victor. With my instruction, she walked over to the control panel and chose the right buttons to free the Avengers. Then I reverted back to myself to protect Morganna from any ridicule. She thanked me for doing so, knowing how this would take some explaining. The Avengers ran over to me, and I expected fear or ridicule for the plan or trusting the others. What I did not expect was Janet to run up and envelope me in a bone crushing hug. She squeezed enough for me to wince before she let go. Even though I was still getting used to somebody other than June hugging me, the embrace felt nice. When she pulled back, she held me at arms length and inspected every inch of me.  
“Did she hurt you? How did you make her turn on Hydra and AIM?” she asked quickly. It took a moment to realize she was talking about Morganna.   
“No,” I answered with a bit of scorn. “Actually, they were the ones that came up with it. They aren’t bad, just misunderstood.” They didn’t say anything to that. Before I could say anything else to protect the others, however, Zira’s voice floated through my head, heavy and fearful.   
“Hydra saw through it. June is out.”  
My face paled, and I turned to the rest of the team.   
“June is out, and Hydra most likely has her.”   
Janet’s eyebrows drew together, and without a word, she ran right to the door, not waiting for us to follow. With a grunt to get my body into motion, I sprinted after her, with the rest of the team on my tail. Eventually, my endurance ran out and I turned into a wolf, charging along while following Zira’s old scent. Before I could follow much longer, though, the phantoms of Cap and Hawkeye came out from behind a hallway and tackled me and Janet with a grunt. A growl of annoyance escaped my throat, And I snapped my jaws near his face to make him back off, hoping his phantom self had a sense of self preservation. He did, and launched away quickly. With a quick burst of energy, I changed to a lion, albeit a small one, and leaped at him. He leaped back again and ran the other way, probably hoping to lead me somewhere. I myself was done with games, and ran down a different hallway, keeping his scent just within my reach.   
Finally, I sniffed up his scent more clearly as he hit a hallway connected to mine. With a small grin, I urged my paws to speed up and run, also hoping not to slip on the slick floors. My muscles ached with the effort, but my body remained upright. Finally, I turned the corner and slammed into him, using my whole weight to keep him down. By the time the rest of the team caught up, we were both panting from individual struggles. When they got close, though, an arrow shot out from nowhere and nearly hit Janet, releasing a snarl from within me. Sweat was pouring through my fur, and my large pointed teeth were gritted in concentration. I was halfway ready to bring Morganna into this, but the rest of the team arrived and managed to help me pin the both of them to the floor. The phantoms snarled and tried to struggle, but were no match to every one of us. It took us over 20 minutes to drag the both of them kicking and screaming back to the machine. Strapping them in was a struggle, but when the machine turned on and the real Cap and Hawkeye came back, everything had been worth it.   
The both of them looked ready to express their apologies, having had seen everything, but I shot them down with a huff, impatient to find June. In our hive mind, I asked Zira about the status of June. All I got in response was,  
“Get over here. Now.”  
“Where?” I thought back.  
“Southwest quarter. Gassing chamber.”  
My heart leapt to my throat at the words. Before I could tell anybody I was going, I had already turned to a cheetah and sped off to surprised shouts and yells. I strained my efforts until I smelled AIM and Hydra, which only fueled me more. When I finally met them, I tore through their ranks in a roar, releasing Morganna at her wish. Soon the smell of blood filled the air, but Morganna did not relish it like before, but kept fighting forward with all she had. Finally the carnage stopped, and all of the guards were dead or dying. Morganna stood there panting for a moment before launching herself forward into each door in the hallway, finally arriving at the last door just as the rest of the Avengers arrived, sweating and confused. Morganna paid them no mind and burst through the last door to see a barrage of Hydra and AIM agents in what looked like an observing room. Morganna’s head swung to the left to see June strapped down to a plastic table, in a room so filled with green gas that Morganna had a bit of trouble seeing her.  
Morganna roared with a fury that I had never heard before and launched herself at the soldiers. Blood spurted, screams were cut off, and soon, everybody in the room was dead. Their blood filled the air with a tangy stink as the Avengers took it all in. They stared at Morganna with her blood-soaked hands and muzzle with both fear and even a bit of appreciation. Without a response, Morganna turned to the console for the room ahead of them. With a few buttons, the green gas started to filter out of the room while everybody held their breath in anticipation.   
As soon as the green gas was gone, Morganna burst through the glass and charged to June, looking at her frantically, trying to feel for a pulse. Her breath grew more and more ragged every second she couldn’t find one.  
“No, no, no, no, no!” Morganna cried before collapsing onto June, letting out desperate sobs. The rest of the Avengers stood back for a moment, unsure of what to do. Finally, Cap gently touched Morgannas shoulder, only to get a hiss as Morgnna turned to him with bloodshot eyes.   
“Morganna,” Cap began, “Let us put her into stasis in the suit. Maybe we can find a way to save her.”  
Morganna’s breathing became more even as she nodded and stepped back, thick tears soaking her fur. Iron man slowly stepped forward and reactivated the suit, and the team only watched in silence as the suit closed around June’s body. For a few seconds, the suit beeped as it began to read June’s body. Finally, it showed her diagnostics. Iron man went over and began to study them.  
“Mild internal bleeding, gas inhalation, in a near comatose state, but… still alive.”   
Morganna let out a massive sigh of relief, as did the rest of the team. Even Hawkeye showed a bit of a grin. Morganna lifted June up gingerly, then slowly led the way out of the room with planted and careful steps. As soon as the team left the room, they formed a protective barrier around the girls, looking out for any agents that were still in the base. The hallways were quiet as Iron man hacked into the mainframe to try and find a plane to bring the team back to Avengers tower. As soon as he found one, the team made their way there slowly and carefully, trying not to set off any alarms that might be present. Finally, they made it to a hanger on the east side of the compound, filled with jets ready to fly. Just before the Avengers could make it to the jet, however, what seemed like a whole army appeared in the bay, led by a royally pissed off Baron Strucker. Strucker roared the order to attack, which was followed by a flood of soldiers from both AIM and Hydra. The Avengers turned right back on the army, shooing Morganna to a nearby jet to escape on. Marganna growled at not being able to fight, but her concern for her sister won out and she forced herself to run toward the jet and open it, storing June on a cot. At that moment, however, Morganna heard a few soldiers enter the plane. With a growl, the werewolf ran at the soldiers, dismantling them within seconds and threw them out of the ship. By that time, the rest of the Avengers had arrived on the ship and had begun preparing the jet to fly.  
“Let’s go!” Morganna roared in apprehension as the army continued to try and get to the ship.  
“I know, I know!” Hawkeye cried back, frantically turning the plane on. When the engines of the plane finally let out a roar the jet lurched forward to the runway with such a force that Morganna had to grip onto June so she wouldn’t fly away. The hanger door began to close, and soon the jet had cleared the runway and everyone was allowed to breathe. That moment was soon to pass, however, as the team heard the roar of other jet engines starting to chase them. Morganna gave a growl in frustration before ordering,  
“Open the top hatch! I’m going out there.” The Avengers looked at her like she was crazy, but one look into her wild eyes made them comply. Morganna leapt up out of the hatch and immediately jumped into the air, aiming for one of the jets behind theirs. Once she landed on the top of the jet, she proceeded to rip out the plane’s engines in a fury, then leaped into the air again to get to the next plane. In her fury, she continued to take planes out of the sky until there was only one left in the sky other than her own. Once Morganna landed upon it, she didn’t immediately take it out. Instead, she tore her way through the slick metal and killed the pilot. Sitting in the pilot’s seat, she looked at all of the buttons with a bit of fear. Despite all that she had learned, Morganna had not been the one to learn all of the mechanics. Juna and I had. Sensing Morganna’s distress, I came to the forefront of Morganna’s mind, and so she relented. Once awoke, I was rather surprised to know that the jet I was supposed to be flying had started to nosedive. Grabbing the controls, I was barely able to level out the jet, but eventually I was able to guide the plane back to the one the Avengers were on and leapt down onto the roof of it after sending the last plane to crash. As I began to slip, I allowed Morganna to take control again to be able to anchor myself to the top of the plane. After Morganna banged on the roof a few times, eyes streaming from the speed, the roof access opened and she popped in, letting out a breath of relief. Exhausted, she gave control back to me in order to rest. Upon receiving control, I refuted the Avengers concerns and made her way to the cot when June now lay. By now, June was attached to an IV line and oxygen mask, with her chest rising and falling slowly to show that the machines were working. I sighed at the sight before she sat down on the floor beside the cot, before exhaustion finally took over and forced me to fall asleep.


	17. June

This time, the darkness wasn’t pressing or comforting at all. In fact, the darkness seemed barely there, like a curtain that was only just barely blocking the sun. I was sure that my body really wanted me to sleep, but my mind was barely having it. Finally, I was able to open my eyes to the Avengers tower bedroom I had, with an IV attached to my arm. Slowly, I sat up a bit, ignoring the straining pain in my limbs. I let myself relax into the pillows, watching the IV drip an unknown substance into my body. My mind was a bit muddled trying to sort through what had happened before all of the memories came rushing back, including the suffocating feeling of the gas when it had tried to kill me. I took a deep breath before I got too agitated before I was bumped on the side to see Abby’s soft nose bump my arm with a cautious expression on her face. My face crumpled as I pulled Abby close, feeling her soft fur press into my chest as relieved tears broke out of my eyes. Abby smiled then said,  
“I’m glad you’re okay.”   
“I’m glad you are okay.” I replied. “I had no idea if they had killed you or not.” Abby smiled then snuggled closer to me. We both simply lay in silence as our chests rose and fell in rhythmic succession. After a while, I heard the door open and I cracked open my eyes. I heard a gasp as I took in Lily at the door and as she slowly made her way over to my bed. I opened my eyes fully as she made it to the side of the bed. She looked almost nervous.  
“What is it, Lils?” I asked, keeping my voice soft. Finally her eyes met mine.  
“I didn’t know if you were alive.” She whispered. I gave a small sigh. I knew the feeling that even when there was evidence of the contrary, you didn’t know whether your loved ones were alive or dead. Knowing this, I gestured for Lily to sleep with me. She gladly obeyed and proceeded to snuggle on my free side, careful not to pull on my IV lines. I breathed in deeply which made my chest twinge in pain. But that pain meant I was truly alive. And now, with everyone I loved safe and laying with me, I knew that this was the best feeling in the world.


	18. Epilogue- June

It was now three weeks after the Aim and Hydra incident. By now Lily and I were fully integrated into the Avengers team. We were starting to become friends with everyone, and after hearing Clint’s story Morganna and Zira had begun making amends for their actions. We had even gone on some missions with the Avengers and had met and been introduced to many other superheroes. I had also finally met Spiderman, and from the few times we had met he seemed like a nice guy. The team he was currently leading was pretty cool too. We had both decided to keep our true identities a secret, as we knew that many superheroes wouldn’t take kindly to the daughters of Doctor Doom. The Avengers had agreed, remembering their own reactions. At this time, Lily, Abby, and Myself were sitting on the top of Avengers tower, gazing at the sunset in silence.

“Guys?” I asked.  
“Yeah?” Lily and Abby replied. I thought a moment before replying.  
“I really can’t believe that less than a month ago we were either scrounging off the streets and stuck in prison. It really doesn’t seem real.”   
“I know.” confirmed Lily. “I never thought that I would ever get out of that prison. Nobody ever spoke to me, I was always alone and cold from the freezing machine. When you came in, I thought it was a dream. I still can’t really believe that we are free and safe. And a peace with our others, who were meant to be our mortal enemies for all time.” Abby nodded.  
“ Although life on the streets was simple, it wasn’t really fulfilling. When I met you, June, I thought I was gaining a new purpose by taking care of you. In reality, my true purpose was helping you not only survive, but to thrive in this new world, this superhero world.”  
“Superheroes.” I repeated. “It sounds weird to think that the children of the villainous Doctor Doom can even be described as superheroes.” I kind of chuckled at my own words.  
“Even so, I’m sure your father would be proud of you both as long as you don’t try and stop his evil plans.” Abby’s eyes twinkled as she spoke. Lily laughed.  
“ wouldn’t it be funny if we had to fight him at some point?” We all laughed at that one, before lapsing into silence. For a while, we just mulled over our own thoughts while we stared at the receding sun, watching as the sky’s colors changed from blue to yellow to orange, and finally to red. After a bit longer, the stars began to be visible. Just before we were going to go back into the tower for dinner however, Lily’s face paled and turned to mine.  
“June…” she began. She took a steadying breath, then continued, “what is mom going to think about all of this?”


End file.
